OPIUM 233 



the decision. But- the inspector refused to reconsider, 

 stating that the ball was adulterated with prunes. 



In some cases, when opium comes rapidly to market, 

 several inspectors work simultaneously. It is remark- 

 able how quickly and expertly they handle a basket of 

 180 pounds; how, with a single gash, these men, through 

 the senses of sight and smell alone, prejudge a ball that, 

 to an inexperienced person, presents no fault. The 

 inspector is paid one-half of one per cent the value of 

 the opium he handles. 



Mr. Alpiar states that invariably the rejected opium 

 runs down to six or even four per cent morphine. This, 

 considering the remarkable rapidity of the inspector's 

 work, and the fact that it is the expertness of empirical 

 experience only, was to me inexplicable. In no other 

 direction have I been confronted with the scientific 

 result that comes by the empirical perfection of experi- 

 ence and the education of the senses. 



ASSAYING. 1 The accepted balls pass immediately 

 into the hands of the purchaser, who now cuts each 

 lump into halves, and from the interior 2 of each takes a 

 piece about the size of an English walnut. One hundred 

 baskets furnish about one hundred pounds of these 

 samples, which are at once weighed and thoroughly 

 incorporated into a uniform mass, in a tightly closed 

 kneading machine, which prevents any evaporation of 

 moisture. One hundred grammes are then immediately 



1 Dr. A. R. L. Dohme, Proc. Amer. Pharm. Ass'n., 1893, pp. 169-177, contributes a 

 paper on "Commercial Varieties of Ophun," historical, descriptive and analytical. The 

 assay results and process (pp. 175-177) are given in detail, the morphine content of seven 

 natural named gums ranging from 10.53 per cent to 15.13 per cent. Our province being that 

 of crude drug history, the reader can only be referred to the interesting chemical details and 

 assay results. 



* Dr. Squibb took his samples from the crust inward, sampling every fifth ball, if large; 

 every tenth ball, if small. In Smyrna, every ball is inspected. 



