OPON 



Crude opium contains a 

 number of alkaloids, of \\lm li iu<>r 

 phine, which may be present to 

 the extent of 12 p.c., in the most 

 important. Others are coilrmr, 

 thebaine, and narcotine. In addi- 

 tion, opium contains neutral sub- 

 stances, organic acids, water, muci- 

 lage, resin, albumen, glucose, oils, 

 and mineral salt*. Morphine ex- 

 tracted from opium is employ* < I in 

 r.nti-li medicine as the hydro- 

 chloride, acetate, and tartrate. 



Opium acts as an anodyne and 

 narcotic almost entirely in virtue 

 of the morphine it contains, and the 

 therapeutic action of these sub- 

 stances may accordingly be con- 

 sidered together. Opium is often 

 sprinkled over hot fomentations 

 and poultices applied for the relief 

 of pain, and opium liniment is 

 similarly employed. The ointment 

 of galla and opium is mainly em- 

 ployed to relieve the pain of piles 

 and anal fissures. Morphine is a 

 very valuable drug for the relief of 

 pain, and is constantly used in 

 cancer, gastric ulcer, and other con- 

 ditions, for this purpose. It is very 

 undesirable to give opium when- 

 ever the pains are of an hysterical 

 character, owing to the danger of 

 the opium habit being formed. 



Morphine is also of great value 

 (or insomnia resulting from acute 

 . but should not be given 

 !'! chronic sleeplessness, for the 

 same reason. Morphine also stops 

 the peristaltic movements of the 

 stomach and intestines. Hence it 

 is of service in all inflammatory 

 conditions of the abdomen, where 

 1 it is desired to maintain the intes- 

 tines in a state of rest, and it is in 

 virtue of this property that opium 

 j tends to arrest diarrhoea. Opium 

 j may also be given with good effect 

 : in some cases of heart disease asso- 

 ' ciated with much pain, and occa- 

 sionally, in small doses, in affec- 

 | tions of the lung associated with 

 distressing cough. 



Poisoning by Opium 

 Four grains of opium and two 

 drachms of the tincture of opium 

 have proved fatal, but recovery 

 has occurred after much larger 

 doses. The symptoms usually com- 

 mence within an hour. At first 

 there is a mild degree of excite- 

 ment, with flushing of the face and 

 quickening of the pulse ; soon this 

 is followed by headache, giddiness, 

 and somnolence, which gradually 

 passes into a state of stupor. In 

 the early stages the patient can be 

 roused, but later the coma is 

 profound. The breathing is slow 

 and stertorous, the lips livid, the 

 skin cold and clammy, the pulse 

 alow ; the breathing becomes 

 slower and slower, convulsions may 

 occur towards the end, and ulti- 



5653 



in it'-ly the patient dien from 

 asphyxia. 



The stomach should be washed 

 out with a solution of potassium 

 permanganate, about 10 grain* to 

 t lie pint. Comashould beprevented, 

 if possible, by continual stimula- 

 tion, throwing cold water in the 

 patient's face, and walking him 

 about When coma has super- 

 vened, it is worse than useless to 

 drag him about. Artificial respira- 

 tion should be adopted. Oxygen 

 may be administered if the lips are 

 blue. Stimulants, such as strych- 

 nine, ether, etc. , are helpful. A hypo- 

 dermic injection of one-twentieth 

 of a grain of atropine may be given. 



Effect! of the Opium Habit 

 The opium habit is often ac- 

 quired in the first instance from the 

 taking of opium to relieve pain. 

 Hypodermic administration is the 

 most frequent form. The drug is 

 taken to produce the pleasurable 

 excitement and feeling of well- 

 being which is the first effect of 

 opium. As this wears off depression 

 follows, and the person takes more 

 opium to relieve this. When the 

 habit has been definitely acquired 

 the complexion of the sufferer be- 

 comes sallow, he suffers from 

 sleeplessness, sometimes nausea 

 and vomiting, and emaciation 

 gradually supervenes. He is irrit- 

 able, and moral changes appear. 

 He is untruthful, and may resort to 

 all sorts of subterfuges to conceal 

 his habit and obtain the drug. This 

 condition may persist for years, 

 and eventually signs of peripheral 

 neuritis may appear and death fol- 

 lows from exhaustion. 



THE OPIUM TRADE. The opium 

 poppy, which is indigenous to 

 W. Asia and S.E. Europe, yielded 

 food and oil long before the 3rd 

 century B.C., when soporific ex- 

 tracts were made by the Greeks. 

 Before our era the more potent sap 

 from the capsules came into medi- 

 cinal use. The spread of Islam 

 carried the knowledge of the plant 

 and its properties across Asia, and 

 it was cultivated in China by the 

 8th century A.D. The Mogul em- 

 perors monopolised the Indian 

 opium manufacture, and fostered 

 an export trade. 



Tobacco reached China from 

 Spanish America by 1620, and at 

 first opium was mixed with pipe 

 tobacco. Within a century the 

 smoking of unmixed opium became 

 so rife that in 1729 it was prohibited 

 by Chinese imperial edict. After 

 the ancient Indian monopoly 

 passed to the East India Company 

 in 1757 the cultivation and trade 

 grew apace. Successive Chinese 

 edicts were persistently ignored, 

 until in 1839 the seizure of British 

 opium stocks at Canton led to the 



OPORTO 



so-called Opium War, whkh ended 

 in tin- caution of Hong Kong to 

 Great Britain. Importation grew 

 until in 1888 it reached 95,000 

 piculs of 133 Ib. Local cultiva- 

 1 1- .11 t hen spread swiftly over China 

 and Manchuria. 



In 1891 the British parliament 

 adopted a resolution condemning 

 the Indian cultivation and traffic. 

 The poppy was being grown in 

 Bengal, Agra, and Oudh, thi* 

 " Bengal opium " being manu- 

 factured in government factories at 

 Patna and Gbazipur. " Malwa 

 opium " was produced in several 

 native states in Raj pu tan a and 

 central India. But high duties 

 tended to discourage the traffic. 

 In 1893-95 a royal commission sat, 

 and recommended stricter super- 

 vision of the traffic. By 1906, when 

 China was producing 376,000 piculs, 

 her government promulgated an 

 edict requiring the cultivation and 

 use to cease throughout the empire 

 within ten years. Great Britain 

 undertook to reduce the export to 

 China by annual tenths so long as 

 local cultivation diminished part 

 pasfii. In 1908 the Hong Kong 

 opium dens were closed. An inter- 

 national commission, sitting at 

 Shanghai in 1909, resolved to 

 assist China to secure her ends, 

 and on March 31, 1917, the im- 

 portation of Indian opium ceased. 

 The effects of opium-smoking, 

 due to morphine in a minor degree 

 only, differ from those of opium- 

 eating, which is practised in Asia 

 Minor, Persia, and India. Asia 

 Minor is still an important source 

 of opium for medicinal uses, this 

 " Turkey opium " trade being 

 centred in Constantinople and 

 Smyrna. Good qualities have been 

 produced in Egypt and the Balkan 

 states, and from early Islamic 

 times Persia has been an active 

 source of supply. 



In 1918-19 the revenue from 

 Bengal opium, including that con- 

 sumed in India, was 3,289,000, 

 and 13,768 chests were exported. 

 The area under poppy cultivation, 

 in 1888 600,000 acres, was by 1915 

 reduced to less than one-third. 

 See Poppy ; consult also The Com- 

 mercial Product* of India, Sir G. 

 Watt, 1908 ; On the Trail of the 

 Opium Poppy, Sir A. Hosie, 1914. 

 Opon. Town on Mactan I., 

 Cebii, Philippine Islands. It lies 

 opposite Cebu city. Magellan was 

 killed here by the natives in 1521. 

 The cultivation of maguey is the 

 chief occupation. Pop. 22,250. 



Oporto (Lat Portiu Cole ; Port. 

 porto, i.e. the port). Second 

 largest city of Portugal, capital of 

 Porto disf. It stands on the X. 

 bank of the Douro, 3} ru. from the 

 Atlantic, and 209 m. by rly. N. of 



