and tixt^-d ou lo the eud ol Kmg wuodcu haudlt's, ;iud is tlieu straiucd 

 through a piece of white cloth iuto other ItarreLs. This completes the 

 process, and the infusion is bottled by dippiug it out with the before 

 nieutioued ladles and pouring it through a fin funnel into square gin 

 or other bottles which are brought by the patients. It is a brown, 

 ratlier turbid, tea-like fluid as thus prepared. 



A complete series of specimens, illustrating the preparation of the 

 drug, have been collected and pr.'pared foi* exhibition in the Peralc 

 Museum. 



This decoction is prescribed as follows : Whatever the amount of 

 opium a man habitually smokes, that amount is to be mixed with the 

 infusion. It may be mentioned here that the average opium smoker 

 takes from 2 to 3 chi (llOj gniins to 175 grains) of chaudu per diem. 

 This quantity is often exceeded and in one case H tahil (875 grains.) 

 is stated to be the daily allowance of a particular smoker. Cliandu, 

 which is the opium as prepared by the Chinese for the use of smokers, 

 is less potent that the official B. P Extract of Opium. In the act of 

 smoking a considei'ablo quantity of the alkaloids contained in the 

 chandu is certainly destroyed and only a mere fraction is absorbed 

 into tlic system of the smoker. To proceed, if, for instance, a man 

 has l^een in the habit of smoking 2 chi of chandu per day, then two 

 reputed quart bottles (a) and (b) of the infusion are taken, and into 

 one (a) is p\it 2 chi of burnt chandu, roasted on an iron skewer-like 

 instrument in the same way as it would be if being jirepared for 

 smoking. Then a Chinese tea-cup is half filled from bottle (a) and 

 taken by the patient, and half a tea-cup from bottle (?>),the one which 

 does not contain any opium, is put into («). This is repeated each 

 time a dose is taken, so that the liquid in (a), while maintaining its 

 bulk, continually decreases in its opium contents, until l)ottle (b) is 

 exhausted. The dose is to l^e taken as many times a day as the 

 patient has Ijeen in the habit of smoking, usually three or four times, 

 until the two bottles are finished ; when the man should, it is stated, 

 be cured of all wish to smoke. If this is not the case, then the treat- 

 ment is t<j Ixj repeated, but with a smaller initial proportion of burnt 

 opium in I)ottle (a), the amount being again decreased if a third 

 course is necessary. It is stated that sometimes two courses are suffi- 

 cient, but generally three are required. 



It will probably fje of interest to go more fully into the curious 

 .system of dilution and dosage adopted in this instance. A Chinese 

 tea-cup holds about three fluid ounces and a reputed quart bottle 

 approximately 25 ounces, so that each bottle would contain some 

 16 doses. The decrease in the amount of opium would be ^^^th of the 

 total amount after the first dose and j'^th of the remainder for the 

 next, and so on for each succeeding one, up to the 17th dos.-, when 

 the dilution would remain constant to the 32nd dose. At 2 chi of 



