80 
PAPAVER SOMNIFERUM. 
Carbon . , 
Nitrogen 
72. 
5.50. 
5.50. 
17. 
Hydrogen 
Oxygen 
100. 
M. Bussy, chemical operator at L'Ecole de Pharmacie, has also- 
found it to contain a small quantity of azote, about one-twentieth. 
M. Robiquet adopted the following method for obtaining mor-r 
phine ; he boiled a very concentrated solution of opium for tifteen 
minutes with a small quantity of magnesia, in the proportion of 10' 
grains of the latter, to lib. of the former; the greyish deposit 
produced by this operation he collected on a filter, and washed it 
with cold water. When this precipitate was well dried, he heated 
it for some time with weak alcohol, at a temperature below boiling. 
By this process he separated niuch of the colouring matter, and a very 
little morphine. The precipitate he then filtered, and washed by 
means of a little alcohol ; after which, it was strongly boiled in a 
large quantity of the same spirit rectified. The liquor being again 
filtered, while in the state of ebullition, the morphine separates as it 
cools. The colouring matter is afterwards got rid of by repeated 
crystallization. Dr. Thomson gives the following, which he con- 
siders an easy method of procuring morphine in a state of purity. 
He precipitates a strong infusion of opium, by means of caustic 
ammonia; this precipitate he separates by the filter; the infusion 
is then evaporated to one-sixth its volume, and a new precipitate 
obtained by again treating the infusion with caustic ammonia ; this 
precipitate is morphine mixed with colouring matter ; when sufficient 
time has been given for the deposit to form, he separates it by means 
of the filter, and washes it with cold water. After it is sufficiently 
drained he sprinkles it with alcohol, which passes through the filter, 
dissolving and carrying with it a large portion of the colouring 
matter and a little of the morphine. The remaining morphine is 
then dissolved in acetic acid, and any colouring matter removed by 
treating the solution with a little ivory black, the mixture being 
often shaken during twenty-four hours, and then thrown on the filter. 
The liquid passes through perfectly <;olourless, and by treating it a 
third time with the caustic ammonia, the morphine falls down in the 
form of a white powder. By dissolving this base in alcohol, and 
allowing the solution to evaporate spontaneously, the morphine is 
