OPIUM. 45 



half of the 17th century/ and in another hundred years had spread like 

 a plague over the gigantic empire. The lirst edict against the practice 

 was issued in 179G, since which there have been innumerable enact- 

 ments and memorials,* but all powerless to arrest the evil which is 

 still increasing in an alarming ratio. Mr. Hughes, Commissioner of 

 Customs at Amoy, thus wrote on this subject in his official Trade 

 Report^ for the year 1870: — "Opium-smoking appears here as else- 

 where in China to be becoming yearly a more recognized habit, — 

 almost a necessity of the people. Those who use the drug now do so 

 openly, and native public opinion attaches no odium to its use, so long 

 as it is not carried to excess. ... In the city of Amoy, and in adjacent 

 cities and towns, the proportion of opium-smokers is estimated to be 

 from 15 to 20 per cent, of the adult population. ... In the country 

 the proportion is stated to be from 5 to 10 per cent. . . ." 



Production — The poppy in whatever region it may grow always 

 contains a milky juice possessing the same properties; and the collection 

 of opium is j^ossible in all temperate and sub-tropical countries where 

 the rainfall is not excessive. But the production of the drug is limited 

 by other conditions than soil and climate, among which the value of 

 land and labour stands pre-eminent. 



At the present day opium is produced on an important scale in 

 Asia Minor, Persia, India, and China ; to a small extent in Egypt. The 

 drug has also been collected in Europe, Algeria,* North America,* and 

 Australia,® but more for the sake of experiment than as an object of 

 commerce. 



We shall describe the production of the different kinds under their 

 several names. 



1. Ojnnm of Asia Minor ; Turl-et/, Smi/rna, or Constanti- 

 nople Ojyiutn^ — The poppy from which this most important kind of 

 opium is obtained is Papaver somniferurn, var. ^8. glahruTii Boissier. 

 The flowers are commonly purplish, but sometimes white, and the seeds 

 vary from white to dark violet. 



The cultivation is carried on throughout Asia Minor, both on the 

 more elevated and the lower lands, the cultivators being mostly small 

 peasant proprietors. The plant requires a naturally rich and moist soil, 

 further improved by manure, not to mention much care and attention 

 on the part of the gi'ower. Spring frosts, drought, or locusts sometimes 

 effect its complete destruction. The sowing takes place at intervals 

 from November to March, partly to insure against risk of total failure, 

 and partly in order that the plants may not all come to perfection at 

 the same time. 



The plants flower between May and July according to the elevation 

 of the land. A few days after the fall of the petals the poppy head 



^ Bretschneider, Study of Chinese Bot. « Phamn. Journ. Oct. 1, 1S70. 272. 



Worijt, 1870. 48. " Much information under this head has 



- Chinese Repository, vol. v. (1837) vi &c. been derived from a paper On the production 



'Addressed to the Inspector-General of of Opium in Asia Minor hy S. H. Maltass 



Cu8toms,Pekin, and published at Shanghai, (PJtarm. Journ. xiv. 1855. 395), and one 



1871. On the Culture and Commerce in Opium, in 



* Pharm. Journ. xv. (1856) 348. Asia Minor, by E. K. Heffler, of Smyrna 



*Am. Journ. of Phar. xviii. (1870) 124 ; {Pharm. Journ. x. 1869. 434). 



Journ. ofSoe. of Arts, Dec. 1, 1871. 



