8 RODNEY H. TRUE AND W. W. STOCKBERGER 
die. Apparently the oxidase which occurs so abundantly in the latex 
may be credited with playing an important part in these oxidations. 
Morphine was absent in the solutions of the free latex only when 
oxygen was excluded or when the action of the oxidases was inhibited. 
Further evidence on the part played by the air in the production 
of morphine was added as a result of an experiment in which fresh 
capsules of the poppy were dried in an atmosphere from which air 
(oxygen) was excluded. 
Three uniform lots of fresh poppy capsules of normal growth 
were collected on the tenth day after the fall of the petals. 
Lot I was spread out on a bench at a north window of the labora- 
tory and allowed to dry by simple exposure to the air. 
Lot II was dried out in an air bath oven at a temperature varying 
between 90 and 100° C. 
Lot III was dried out in an atmosphere of CO2. A Remington 
copper still filled with CO2 was taken to the poppy field where selected 
capsules were cut off and immediately put into the still through a 
suitable opening. This opening which was near the top of the con- 
tainer was tightly stoppered except when opened to receive the cap- 
sules. When the desired quantity of capsules had been collected, the 
still was brought back to the laboratory and in large part submerged 
in a water bath in which from 8 o'clock a.m. to 5 p.m. the water had 
a temperature close to the boiling point. No heat was applied during 
the night. As soon as the still with its load of capsules was in position 
in this water bath connection was made with a cylinder of liquid CO2. 
The gas passed first through a wash bottle containing sulphuric acid, 
thence through a glass tube dipping into a vessel of boiling water in 
which the gas was heated. From here it was carried to the bottom 
of the still where it diffused among the capsules. The excess CO2 
and the vapor from the drying capsules escaped through a small 
opening in the top of the still. A continual flow of gas was main- 
tained day and night until the capsules were dry. When dry, the 
capsules were collapsed, brown in color, and very brittle. 
The three lots of material were analyzed by Mr. W. O. Richtmann, 
at that time pharmacognostical expert in this bureau. Those dried 
in the open air at room temperature and in the air-bath oven were 
found to contain normal amounts of total alkaloids. The lot dried 
in the atmosphere of CO2 contained no aklaloids at all. 
An attempt was made the following year to repeat this experiment. 
