62 PAPAVERACE^. 



percent. Christison from'a sample sent to Duncan of Edinburgh in 

 1830/ 950 per cent, of hydrochlorate of morphine. 



Samples from the Indian Museum placed at our disposal by Dr. 

 J. Forbes Watson gave^ us the following percentages of morphine : — 

 Medical (Indian) Opium, 1852-53, portion of a square brick, 43; 

 Garden Behar Opium, 4'6; Abkdri Provision Opium, Patna, No. 5380, 

 8"5 ; Sind Opium, No. 28, 38 ; Opium, Hyderabad, Sind, 3'2 (and 5*4 

 of narcotine) ; Malwa Opiunfi, Ql. 



With regard to the percentage of morphine in Chinese Opium, the 

 following data have been obligingly furnished to us by Mr. T. W. 

 Sheppard, F.C.S., Opium Examiner to the Benares Opium Agency, of 

 analyses made by himself from samples of the drug procured in China 

 by Sir R. Alcock : — Szechuen opium, 2'2; Kweichow, 2-5 ; Yunnan, 4"1; 

 Kansu, 5"1 per cent. Mr. S. informs us that Dr. Eatwell obtained in 

 1852 from Szechuen opium 33, and from Kweichow opium 61^ per 

 cent. — the opium in all instances being reckoned as dry. The samples 

 examined by Mr. S. contained 86 to 95 per cent of dry opium, 

 and yielded (undried) 36 to 53 per cent, of extract soluble in cold 

 water. The proportion of morphine in the sample of Chinese opium 

 analysed by Dr. Jamieson (p. 55) was nearly 7'2 per cent, calculated on 

 the dry drug. 



Pseudomorphine — occurs only in very small quantities. Hesse 

 found it in some sorts of opium to the extent of 002 per cent, — in 

 others still less. 



Codeine — has been found in Smyrna, French and Indian opium, 

 but only to the extent of + to f per cent. T. and H. Smith give the 

 proportion in Turkey opium as 03 per cent.^ 



TJiehaine — which has likewise been obtained from French opium, 

 amounts in Turkey opium according to Merck to about 1 per cent. In 

 the latter sort T. and H. Smith found only about 8*1 5 per cent., but of 



Papaverine — in the same drug, 1 per cent. 



Narcotine — exists in opium in widely different proportions and 

 often in considerable abundance. Thus Schindler obtained in 1834 

 from a Smyrna opium yielding* 10'30 per cent, of morphine, 1"3() per 

 cent, of narcotine. Biltz (1831) analysed an oriental opium which 

 afforded 9*25 per cent, of morphine and 7*50 of narcotine. Reveil 

 (1860) obtained from Persian opium not rich in morphine, from half as 

 much to twice as much narcotine as morphine. The utmost of narco- 

 tine was 9'90 per cent. We have found in German opium of undubit- 

 able purity^ 10'9 per cent, of narcotine. 



East Indian opium was found by Eatwell (1850) always to afford 

 more narcotine than morphine, — frequently twice as much. The sample 

 from Khandesh referred to on the opposite page, afforded us 7'7 per 

 cent, of pure narcotine. 



French opium collected from the Pavot millet sometimes affords 

 neither narcotine, thebaine, nor narceine.® 



1 The actual specimen is in the Kew ^ Collected in 1829 by Biltz and oblig- 



Museum. ingly placed in 1867 at my disposal by his 



- PharmJourn. v. (1875) 845. son.— F. A. F. 



^ This sample, the richest of all in mor- * The statement of Biltz (1831) that an 



phine, is noted as of ^^ 2nd quality." opium collected by himself from poppies 



* Pharm. Journ. vii. (1866) 183. grown in 1829 at Erfurt afforded 33 per 



