342 The World's Commercial Products 



properties, and in England has been adopted as officinal in place of Quassia wood, which is 

 still retained on the Continent. 



Picraena excelsa is a tree of medium size common in the lower country of Jamaica. The 

 wood is entirely- without odour, but possesses an intensely bitter taste. The chips and shavings 

 of the wood are used in the preparation of a bitter tonic. 



EXTRACTS 



Opium. This drug, so well known, even in remote times, for its valuable sedative 

 properties, is the dried milky juice or latex obtained from the walls of the unripe seed 

 capsules of several varieties of Pap aver somniferum, the Opium Poppy. The narcotic 

 properties are due to the presence of certain alkaloids, the most important being morphine, 

 and, to a less extent, narcotine and codeine. Opium is prepared chiefly in Turkey, India, 

 Persia, and China, but excellent qualities have been obtained from European experimental 

 plantations, notably in France ; the cost of production, however, renders the preparation of 

 the drug in Europe commercially impossible. As is well known, the industry is of great 

 importance in India, where, except in the Native States, it is under strict Government 

 control. 



The method of collecting the latex is practically the same in all countries. While the 

 capsules are still unripe, incisions are made in their walls with a small instrument so constructed 

 that it is impossible to penetrate to the seeds, which would prevent them ripening and thus 

 spoil them as a source of oil. (See " Oils and Fats.") The latex immediately exudes and soon 

 begins to coagulate. Next morning it is scraped off with a knife and the damp pinkish mass 

 placed in sloping dishes to drain. When this is completed, the opium is allowed to partially 

 dry in the sun, when it is ready for packing. 



The high price of the drug naturally results in its frequent adulteration. Besides seeds, 

 charcoal, and ground poppy petals, such crude adulterants as shot, sand, mud, and pieces of 

 metal are sometimes added to increase the weight. 



The bulk of the opium reaching this country is imported from Persia and Turkey. As 

 is well known, practically all the Indian drug exported goes to China, but the latter country 

 imports large quantities overland from Persia, and in recent years has made great strides in 

 the home production of the drug. The universal use of opium as a narcotic in China needs 

 no more than passing mention. 



Aloes. Aloes is the dried juice of the leaves of certain species of Aloe, a genus of plants 

 belonging to the Lily family, and indigenous to South and East Africa, but now introduced 

 into the West Indies and other tropical countries. The four principal varieties of the drug 

 are " Curagoa aloes " (commonly known as " Barbados aloes "), obtained from the leaves 

 of Aloe chinensis ; " Socotrine aloes," obtained from A. Perryi, in the island of Socotra, and 

 the east coast of Africa, whence it reaches this country via Bombay ; " Cape aloes " and 

 " Natal aloes," obtained from several South African species of Aloe, one of which is 

 probably A. ferox. 



A large proportion of the supplies of the drug come from the Dutch West Indies, chiefly 

 Curacoa. The juicy leaves are cut from the plant and immediately placed with their cut 

 ends downwards in sloping troughs placed at convenient intervals on the field or planta- 

 tion. The juice rapidly exudes and is 

 collected in gourds or tin boxes through 

 an aperture at the lower end of the trough. 

 It is then taken to the boiling house and 

 evaporated in copper pans until it becomes 

 a thick, black, viscid mass. When of the 

 right consistency, the aloes is poured into 

 jalap root gourds or boxes where it cools and solidifies. 



