30 Observations and Experiments on Opium. 



ject are well worthy of the attention of the chemist and phar- 

 maceutist. 



Fceculencies, 6fC. 



The foeculencies and insoluble matter of opium consist 

 chiefly of the leaves, capsules and stems of the poppy ; be- 

 sides these however, extraneous matters are frequently found, 

 having been fraudulently introduced to increase its weight. 

 The insoluble matters in different parcels of opium vary from 

 one and a half to near three drachms to the ounce. 



The effects of opium are generally so well known that it 

 is unnecessary to give a description of it.* Sometimes, how- 



* The following' particular account of the effects of opium on the 

 Turks, by Baron de Tott, will no doubt be interesting to many readers. 

 Speaking* of those who give themselves up to its immoderate use, he says, 

 " Destined to live agreeably only when in a sort of drunkenness, these 

 men present above all a curious spectacle, when they are assembled in 

 a part of Constantinople called Teriaky Tcharchissy, the market of 

 opium eaters. It is there that towards evening one sees the lovers of 

 opium arrive by the different streets which terminate at the Solymania, 

 whose pale and melancholy countenances would inspire only compassion, 

 did not their stretched neck, their heads twisted to the right and left, 

 their back bones crooked, one shoulder up to the ears, and a number of 

 other whimsical attitudes which are the consequences of the disorder, 

 present the most ludicrous and the most laughable picture. A long row 

 of little shops is built against one of the walls of the place where the 

 mosque stands. These shops are shaded by an arbor which communicates 

 from one to the other, and under which every merchant, without hinder- 

 ing the passage, takes care to place a small sofa for his customers to sit 

 on, who place themselves in succession, to receive a dose proportioned 

 to the degree of habit and want they have contracted. The pills are 

 soon distributed, the most experienced swallow four of these, larger than 

 olives, and every one drinking a large glass of cold water upon it, waits 

 in some particular attitude for an agreeable reverie, which at the end 

 of three quarters of an hour or an hour at most, never fails to animate 

 these machines, but they are always very extraordinary and their man- 

 ners very gay. This is the moment when the scene becomes most in- 

 teresting ; all the actors are happy, each of them returns home in a 

 state of total ebriety, but in the full and perfect possession of a happi- 

 ness which reason is not able to procure him. Deaf to the hootings of 

 the passengers they meet with, who divert themselves by making them 

 talk nonsense, every one of them firmly believes himself in possession 

 of what he wishes. They have the appearance and feeling of it, and 

 the reality frequently does not produce so much pleasure. The same 

 thing happens in private houses, where the master sets the example of 

 this strange debauch. The men of law are most subject to it, and 

 all the Dervises used to get drunk with opium, before they learned to 

 prefer the excess of wine. There are instances of persons getting 



