OPIUM 273 



The yield of ash in Opium is from 4 to 8 per cent. 



Persian Opium. Usually in masses weighing about 350 grammes 

 and internally more or less homogeneous. There are three com- 

 mercial kinds of Persian opium: (1) Persian green, which is in plano- 

 convex masses that are of a greenish color and with a closely adhering 

 covering of leaf -tissue; (2) Persian white, which is in oblong, cubical 

 masses, that are coated with a layer of closely adhering white paper; 

 (3) Persian red, which is in either oblong, cubical, or truncate, 

 cone-like masses, that are covered with a grayish-white layer and 

 usually wrapped in red paper. 



Turkey Opium is produced in various parts of European and 

 Asiatic Turkey, and there are three principal kinds on the market, 

 namely: (1) Malati opium, which is in the form of ellipsoidal or 

 oblong, flattened cakes, with a closely adhering coating of leaf- 

 tissue, and yields about 10 per cent of morphine; (2) Salonica opium, 

 which is in the form of long, broad, flattened cakes, coated with leaf- 

 tissue, and yields about 15 per cent of morphine; (3) Gheve opium, 

 which is obtained from plants with red flowers, occurs in flat, oval 

 masses, wrapped in poppy leaves, and yields 12.5 per cent of mor- 

 phine. 



Egyptian Opium is in somewhat rectangular masses, that are cov- 

 ered with poppy leaves, and yields from 3.5 to 7 per cent of mor- 

 phine. 



Indian Opium is in flat cakes weighing about 200 grammes, or 

 rounded masses weighing about 2 kilogrammes, wrapped in oiled 

 paper. This variety is sent chiefly to China. 



Adulterants. Opium sometimes contains fragments of the cap- 

 sules, the pulp of figs and other fruits, tragacanth, starch, and 

 various inorganic substances, as clay, sand, stone, lead piping, lead 

 bullets, etc. While starch is not usually admixed with Turkey 

 opium, it is nearly always present in the Persian variety. 



Opium Substitutes. Owing to the habit-producing effects of the 

 alkaloids of opium other drugs are sought. Among those which 

 have been proposed as substitutes for opium, the following may be 

 mentioned: Cannabis (Jour. A. Ph. A., 1918, p. 431); Chelidonium 

 and Gelsemium. 



Literature. Warren, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1915, 87, p. 439; 

 Wilbert, Jour. A. Ph. A., 1916, 5, p. 688. 



Powder of Ipecac and Opium. Consisting of powdered ipecac, 

 powdered opium and sugar of milk. Grayish-white or very light 

 brown; consisting mostly of coarse angular, frequently more or less 

 cone-shaped, colorless fragments, from 0.030 to 0.400 mm. in length, 



