268 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Constituents. A large number of alkaloids have been obtained 

 from opium and its extracts, some of which are, no doubt, alteration 

 products of the alkaloids naturally occurring in the drug; the most 

 inportant of these is morphine, which exists to the extent of 5 to 22 

 per cent, the largest amount being obtained from Turkey opium, 

 the Persian ranking next, and the smallest amount being obtained 

 from Indian opium. 



FIG. 121. Powdered opium: M, protoplasm-like latex, which constitutes the 

 greater proportion of the powder; S, St, thick-walled cells of capsule; A, 

 needle-shaped crystals which sometimes separate in chloral-iodin mounts. 

 The following Rumex tissues are also generally present: E, epidermal cells 

 of leaf; B, bast fibers, and T, tracheae from Rumex fruit; C, crystals (prob- 

 ably of calcium oxalate). 



Morphine is a derivative of 3-6 dioxy-phenanthryleneoxide, 

 which crystallizes from alcoholic solutions in orthorhombic prisms 

 or needle-like crystals, containing one molecule of water of crystalli- 

 zation, which it gradually loses at 75 C. It forms a number of 

 crystalline salts of which the sulphate is here only described. There 

 are at least two different morphine sulphates, the neutral salt con- 

 taining 5 molecules of water of crystallization being the article usually 



