23: 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



low, viz., from 3 to 7 per cent. The percentage ol 

 this alkaloid bears no relation to the preference 

 exhibited by smokers. That containing a large 

 amount is by them generally considered inferior 

 and liable to cause headache. Opium dried as 

 soon as it is gathered is richer in alkaloid than 

 if kept in the moist state for some time and exposed 

 to the air. It is also stated that the drug twenty 

 years old contains less alkaloid, than when pre- 

 viously analysed in the fresh state ; but this state- 

 ment, I think, requires confirmation. 



Medicinally the most extensively used prepara- 

 tion is the tincture, generally known as laudanum, 

 a name which was first applied to a solid prepara- 

 tion combined with aromatics. The liquid pre- 

 paration appears to have been introduced with 

 these aromatics by Dr. Sydenham, and was inserted 

 in the London Pharmacopoeia of 1721. Ordinary 

 medicinal opium loses about 20 per cent, of water 

 when dried and this should yield about 8. per cent, 

 of ash, 60 per cent, of the dried drug being soluble 

 in cold water. Opium should be tenacious, yel- 

 lowish brown in colour, with a strong narcotic 

 odour and bitter taste. A derivative of morphine 

 obtained by heating the alkaloid in a sealed tube 

 with hydrochloric acid is known as apomorphine. 

 This is one of the most speedy and effective 

 emetics, especially when injected hypodermically. 



The sedative property of opium is so well known 

 that I need not enlarge on this point. Its position 

 as a drug is such that Pereira describes it as the 

 most important and valuable medicine in the whole 

 materia medica, and the source, by its judicious em- 

 ployment, of more happiness, and by its abuse, of 

 more misery, than any other drug used by man- 

 kind. 



The use of opium in the East as a stimulant and 

 intoxicant, as before stated, consumes nearly the 

 whole of the quantity produced. The Turks chew 

 it and the Chinese smoke a watery extract under 

 the name of chundoo, the preparation of which 

 from the crude article constitutes a special busi- 

 ness. As a drug it is frequently somewhat uncer- 

 tain in its action, many people being able from 

 idiosyncrasy, but more frequently from previous in- 

 dulgence, to take a much larger amount than 

 others. The smallest dose known to have proved 

 fatal with an adult is four grains, in contrast to 

 which may be quoted a young man who not only 

 swallowed sixty grains of Smyrna opium night and 

 morning for some time, but also in addition drank 

 1% ozs. of laudanum daily. Another case is cited 

 by a doctor, where a wineglassful of the tincture 

 had to be administered several times in twenty- 

 four hours. The drugging of children either with 

 the view to destroy life, or to produce continual 

 narcotism is especially rife in India, the method of 

 administration being usually to smear a little of 

 the solid substance on the tongue or the roof of 

 the mouth. In our own country the use of such 

 substances as soothing syrups, infants' preserva- 

 tives and such like substances, produces consider- 



able mortality in infant life, children being far 

 more susceptible to the influence of opium than to 

 any other drug. 



It is usually understood that where poisoning by 

 opium is suspected, it is sufficient to detect the pre- 

 sence of meconic acid to establish that of opium. 

 Pills and other solid preparations betray the pre- 

 sence of the drug by the odour they emit, and in 

 most cases there is no great difficulty in isolating 

 morphine, with probably one or two of the other 

 alkaloids as well as the meconic acid. The last 

 named giving a characteristic red colour with a 

 solution of chloride of iron. This is not obtained 

 with any other alkaloidal acid. Morphine, too 

 with this re-agent, gives a very distinctive blue 

 colour, peculiar to itself. 



Whilst the juice from the unripe pericarp of the 

 poppy has been proved to possess such active pro- 

 perties, the seeds are bland and wholesome, the 

 dark-coloured ones called maw seeds, being largely 

 eaten by birds. Besides woody fibre, the capsules 

 themselves contain small quantities of the prin- 

 ciples found in opium. 



Poppy oil obtained from the seeds of both the 

 black and white varieties, is an article of some im- 

 portance. By cold pressure from 30 to 40 per 

 cent, of a white virgin oil is obtained, bland and 

 pleasant to the taste, being almost without odour. 

 On a second pressure with heat, a further 20 per 

 cent, is yielded of a reddish colour, possessing an 

 acrid taste and a linseed-like odour. The oil 

 belongs to the drying or linoleic series, having a 

 greater drying power than raw linseed oil, and on 

 this account is a valuable and much used medium 

 for oil painting purposes. The fine quality, ex- 

 tensivelv used in Germany as a salad oil, is less 

 liable than that of olives to rancidity, while its 

 freedom from flavour leads to its use as an adul- 

 terant to that oil. In India and some other coun- 

 tries, poppy oil is much valued as a food, and for 

 other domestic purposes. The inferior kinds are 

 principally employed for making soap and varnish. 

 After pressure the remaining cake constitutes an 

 article of diet in most opium producing countries, 

 besides being largely used to fatten cattle. 



Curzon Terrace, 



Leicester. 



Bats in London. — Mr. Dennett reports that on 

 October 19th he found a crowd of boys watching two 

 bats flying about in St. John's Road, Hoxton, Lon- 

 don, N. 



Unusual Blooming of Hawthorn. — I enclose 

 herewith a specimen of hawthorn {Crataegcus oxyacan- 

 tlia) found in bloom yesterday, November 26th, in a 

 hedge just outside this town. It was in a very exposed 

 position, facing due east. As you will see, there are 

 only two blossoms springing from a fork of the twig, 

 and at first sight I thought it was blackthorn, there 

 being no leaves ; but a closer inspection as well as its 

 perfume declare it to be true " may." Its occurrence 

 in flower at this unusual time of year, may be of 

 interest to some of your other readers besides myself. 

 — T. E. Doeg, Evesham. 



