ALKALOIDS, LATEX AND OXIDASES IN PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM 7 
grown but were still green and full of sap. Each of these portions 
was separately ground to a pulp and twice extracted with a hydro- 
alcoholic menstruum. The green weight was taken just before 
grinding and the pulp after extraction was expressed and again 
weighed. The amount of crude morphine was then determined for 
each extract and calculated with reference to the quantity of the plant 
material which had yielded it. 
The results of the morphine determination are expressed in a 
ratio of morphine present to the same unit weight of plant material 
calculated for each of the plant samples. The relative yields of mor- 
phine were as follows: 
Root 29.0 Lower stem. . . . 2.6 Midstem. ... 1.3 
Upper stem ... . 2.2 Leaves 6.1 Buds 102.0 
Capsules 42.0 
Some morphine was found in all parts of the plant. The roots 
in which there seemed to be but little latex yielded morphine in fair 
quantity, while in all parts of the stem the amount was almost negli- 
gible. However, the highest yield of morphine by far was found in 
the buds and capsules, both actively developing structures. Dis- 
regarding the root, the distribution of morphine in the plant seemed 
to conform fairly well to the distribution of oxidases and latex as 
previously noted. 
The suggestion of a direct relation between the oxidases and mor- 
phine formation led to a series of observations on the latex itself. 
It was found that when the latex flowing from the freshly incised 
capsules was allowed to fall directly into strong alcohol the material 
failed to respond to the usual qualitative tests for alkaloids, while 
similar samples collected at the same time either in water or in a 
petri dish where it was allowed to dry gave all of the usual reactions 
with the common alkaloidal reagents. Fresh latex from the same 
plant was repeatedly collected both in alcohol and in water and 
tested with the result just described. 
Conditions of Alkaloid Formation in the Plant 
The results would seem to be explained on the assumption that 
morphine does not exist preformed either in the living plant or in the 
latex but -develops in the latter when it is exposed to the action of the 
air or in the plant through oxidation changes as the tissues mature and 
