OPIUM 
copioufly rom thefe i cease fay homfon, 
opium appears to contain » gum, bitter extradtive, a 
pectlhiar tleeonce falt, an Tipe: of line, which ap- 
ant in the | oe ndian opium: the 
Fe rs to very abun 
urkifh oneal alfo a rane of 
been difputed, whether che aciey of opium re- 
eae in its gummy or refinous parts. From the experi- 
ents of Hoffmann and Neumann, it feems to be neither in 
the peat nor in the refin; but in a certain fubtile part of 
the refinous matter, fomewha t analogous to eflential oils, 
but of a much lefs volatile kind: and they relate, that on 
boiling the opium in water, there arifes to the furface a 
frothy, vifcid, un€tuous, ftrong-{fcented fubftance, to the 
quantity of two or three drams from fixteen ounces ; that 
this ful-ttanee, in ie dofe of a few graine, has killed dogs 
that could bear above a dram of crude opium; that 
diftillation with eae, though it does not * ih Etat it gives 
ich it is the 
nt and 
$ 
without 
man vapours 0 
burning charcoal, or the pee nines of fermenting 
liqu 
Wy ‘a ether is ufed as a menftruum for opium, and the 
refin ne extractive which it takes up are feparated by 
evaporating the tin@ture on the furface of water, the pellicle 
of refin depofited is nearly infipid, while the extractive dif- 
folved in the water has an intenfely bitter tafte: from this fa@t, 
m becom- 
which n by repeated outene and ee ero was obtained 
free from the refin, of a white colour, and in reCtangular 
prifms with rhomboidal bafes; thefe were inodorous, in- 
s iven to dogs, it produced the effe&ts of a {trong 
f opium; an fimilar manner d effects 
were relieved by vinegar. homfon, in repeating th 
produce its — effe& on the fyftem. Mr. Thomfon 
has had an uni 
falt; but fon De mu 
powerfu il as a narcotic eh opiim itfelf. This latter a 
concludes, from the effects of nitric acid and caloric on this 
falt, that it is compofed of oxygen, hydrogen, azote, 
earbon. It does not redden a blues. Annales de 
Chimie, Ixv. 2 
the S power, ee the seer irrita- 
bility, and. mobility of the fyftem; and accordin ng t 
Cullen, in a certain manner feiendne the motion ce the 
nervous fluid, to and fro ea brain, and thereby inducing 
fleep, one of i its principal effects. From this fedative power 
of opium, by which it alles pain, inordinate aétion, and 
reftleffnefs, it naturally follows, that it may be emp 
with advantage in a great variety of difeafes. Indeed, 
there is fearcely any diforder in ot under fome circum- 
tee) 
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patie. 
o act more or lefs 
the blood: but this i incre afe da 
and, as Dr. Woodv: ille 
Dr. Lewis has given us ‘the fo wing view of ¢ eal 
effets of opium. nd ie folids, while the opera- 
tion of the opium continues, lefs fenfible of every kind of 
irritation, whether proceeding fi an internal caufe, or 
from acrimonious icines, a8 iit or and the more 
active mercurials, of which it i eft corre&to tr 
laxes the nerves; abating or remo cramps pafms, 
fimple catarrhs and tickling coughs ; a in phthifical and 
peripneumonic cafes, dangeroufly obftru&ts expectoration, 
unlefs this effet be provided againtt ee fuitable additions, 
ammoniacum and {quills. It produces a fullnefs and dif- 
tenfion of the whole habit ; and thus exafperates inflamma- 
tions both internal a ect cal; and all plethoric fymptoms. 
It promotes perfpiration and fweat t; but reftrains all other 
evacuations, unlefs when they proceed from relaxation and 
infenfibility of the parts, as the colliquative diarrhea in the 
advanced itate of heétic fevers. It promotes labour-pains, 
and delivery more effeCtually than the medicines of the itimu- 
lating kind ufually recommended for that purpofe; partl 
perhaps by increafing Dit oie and partly by relaxing 
the folids, or takin a eae odic ftrictures. ay ind se 
all the preceding e e perhaps confequences of o 
ee al slat tone aay allied to thofe, stich natural 
ee 
The peoeeea of opium is generally accompanied with a 
w but ftrong and full pu alle and a flight rednefs, ie 
aaa Atehing of the fkin: it is followed by a weak and la 
;-*) 
2 
