52 PAPAVEIIACE.E. 



evaporated to a thick fluid, 100 grains of which should afford 53 of dry 

 residue. These various things are used to form a ball of opium in the 

 following proportions : — 



seers, chittaks. 

 Opium of standard consistence ... 1 7 '50 

 ,, contained in lewd .... 3 "75 



Poppy petals ...... 5 '43 



Pine trash 050 



about 4 lb. 3i oz 



2 1-18-- A ■ A ■ 

 ' avoirdupois. 



The finished balls usually termed cakes, which are quite spherical and 

 have a diameter of 6 inches, are rolled in 2^oppy trash which is the name 

 given to the coarsely powdered stalks, capsules and leaves of the plant ; 

 they are then placed in small dishes and exposed to the direct influence 

 of the sun. Should any become distended, it is at once opened, the gas 

 allowed to escape, and the cake made up again. After three days 

 the cakes are placed, by the end of July, in frames in the factory where 

 the air is allowed to circulate. They still however require constant 

 watching and turning, as they are liable to contract mildew which has 

 to be removed by rubbing in poppy trash. By October the cakes have 

 become perfectly dry externally and quite hard, and are in condition to 

 be packed in cases (40 cakes in each) for the China market which con- 

 sumes the great bulk of the manufacture. 



For consumption in India the drug is prepared in a diflerent shape. 

 It is inspissated by solar heat till it contains only 10 per cent, of mois- 

 ture, in which state it is formed into square cages of 2 lb. each which 

 are wrapped in oil paper, or it is made into flat square tablets. Such 

 a drug is known as Ahkdri Opiuin. 



The Government opium factories in Bengal are conducted on the 

 most orderly system. The care bestowed in selecting the drug, and in 

 excluding any that is damaged or adulterated is such that the merchants 

 who purchase the commodity rarely require to examine it, although 

 permission is freely accorded to open at each sale any number of chests 

 or cakes they may desire. In the year 1871-72 the number of chests 

 sold was 49,695, the price being £139 per chest, which is £26 higher 

 than the average of the preceding year. The net profit on each chest 

 was £90.' 



In Malwa the manufacture of opium is left entirely to private enter- 

 prise, the profit to Government being derived from an export dut}'- of 

 600 rupees (£60) per chest.^ As may readily be supposed, the drug is 

 of much less uniform quality than that which has passed through the 

 Bengal agencies, and having no guarantee as to purity it commands less 

 confidence. 



Malwa opium is not made into balls, but into rectangular masses, or 

 bricks which are not cased in poppy petals ; it contains as much as 95 

 per cent, of dry opium. Some opium sold in London as Mahva Opiuni 

 in 1870 had the form of rounded masses covered with vegetable remains. 

 It was of firm consistence, dark colour, and rather smoky odour. W. D. 

 Howard obtained from it (undried) 9 per cent, of morphine. Other 



^ Statement exhibiting the moral and ^ The revenue by this duty upon opium 



material progress and condition of India exported from Bombay in the year 1871-72, 



during the year 1871-72,— Blue Book was £2, .353, 500. 

 ordered to be printed 29th July, 1873. p. 10. 



