208 
BRITISH PHARMACEUTICAL CONFERENCE. 
Could it be that Mr. Stoddart had met with some of these ? As to the preservation of 
lemon-juice throughout the year, he was well satisfied with a plan which he had long 
adopted, viz. adding two minims of chloroform to a fluid ounce of juice. When the 
juice was required for use, warmth was applied and the chloroform evaporated. 
Mr. W. L. Scott stated that he had found acid oxalate of potash in lemon-juice in 
two instances, the amounts being 4 and per cent, respectively. 
Mr. W. R. King, Mr. Searby, Mr. Caley, and Mr. Ajbkaham also took part in the 
discussion. 
Mr. Stoddart replied upon the whole debate. He said that the lemons which gave 
no citric acid had all the appearances of being perfectly sound. He was aware that in 
Italy there were “ sweet lemons,” of which both the peel and the juice were eaten. As 
to what became of the citric acid, he found that collaterally with its diminution there 
was an increase in the amount of sugar. That carbonic acid was also formed and elimi¬ 
nated through the rind of the fruit, he had proved by means of an air-pump and lime- 
water. He had never met with oxalic acid in lemon-juice. The difficulty in which 
they were placed could not be got over by squeezing the juice freshly at all seasons, for 
towards the summer months such juice did not contain the citric acid they required. 
After an interval business was resumed at 2 p.m. 
Mr. H. S. Evans proposed the following members as a Committee to report 
upon the Exhibition of Objects relating to Pharmacy, viz.:—The President, 
Messrs. Brough, Caley, Carteighe, Ince, Sutton, and Sckacht. 
Mr. Cubitt seconded the motion, which was carried. 
WHAT IS OPIUM? 
BY DR. F. A. FLUCKIGER, OF BERN. 
This question, in our days, will certainly be looked at as perfectly idle, both 
by practical pharmaceutists and by chemists. The drug indeed is well known, 
and has been universally used since the earliest time, in fact for twenty cen¬ 
turies at least; while to no other product of the vegetable kingdom has so as¬ 
tonishing an amount of excellent chemical research been devoted since the 
days of that glorious discovery of a modest Hanoverian Apotheker, who the first 
evolved the idea, that there are bodies existing which are thoroughly analo¬ 
gous to ammonia or potash, yet composed of organic elements. Every one 
looking over the rich chemical literature of opium published from the time 
of Sertiirner (1816) to the recent delicate investigations of Smith of Edin¬ 
burgh or Hesse of Stuttgart, may well be satisfied with a mass of analytical 
facts so interesting, useful, and complete. The present text-books indeed 
display a very satisfactory knowledge of this important drug, albeit they 
leave a little doubt regarding some of its numerous constituents. 
Yet, I venture to say, that science is far from having an exact idea of the 
nature of opium. The endeavours of so many eminent chemists having failed 
to supply a thorough acquaintance with the drug, I cannot hope to fill up at 
once this defect, but merely wish to make it evident, and to contribute some 
facts concerning the composition of opium, which have escaped the attention 
of former investigators. 
Opium contains a dozen of more or less decidedly alkaline bodies, among 
which morphine and narcotine occur in the largest proportion. The former 
constitutes very rarely more than 20 per cent, of the dried drug and usually 
not more than 12 to 15 per cent.; the narcotine on an average about 5 to 6 
per cent.* The whole of the other alkaloids, namely pseudomorphine, co- 
* I bad the opportunity of examining a German opium from Biltz, Erfurt, which yielded 
11 per cent, of narcotine. 
