184 
BRITISH PHARMACEUTICAL CONFERENCE. 
present time. There appears still to be some uncertainty hanging about this 
peculiar principle ; and very recent researches lead to the belief that there 
are two distinct substances of the same composition and physical characters* 
but with different reactions, procured from opium by the same process, and 
associated under the same name ; but even this does not account for the 
figures given by Mulder, as the two substances probably do not coexist in 
the same opium, and the proportion in which they occur is the almost infini¬ 
tesimal one given by Messrs. T. and H. Smith. From Pereira we also 
gather that narceine, i. e. we suppose the narceine of Mulder, is an inert sub¬ 
stance ; but narceine, as now understoed, is regarded on the Continent as 
superior to morphia in its sedative effects ; and the whole quantity that can 
be produced by the English morphia makers is eagerly taken up for the 
German market at many times the price of the latter alkaloid. 
Assuming the proportions now indicated to represent correctly the crystal¬ 
line organic constituents of Turkey opium, it is obviously a useless refine¬ 
ment to pretend to recognize, by the microscope, constituents existing to so 
small an extent as thebaine, meconine, and narceine, in the extracts of any 
opium preparation ; and, indeed, it can only be under peculiarly favourable 
circumstances that we can even expect to have the presence of papaverine 
and codeine manifested in any striking manner. If we eliminate these five 
principles, as we propose to do, from our future investigations, our labour will 
be much simplified, and be confined chiefly to the evidences of the presence 
of morphia and narcotine as bases, and to salts of meconic and thebolactie 
acids. As yet we have had no opportunity of studying this latter substance, 
or the compounds which it enters into, but through the kindness of the 
gentlemen before referred to, we are able to place before you specimens not 
only of thebolactie acid itself, but of many of the thebolactates. If we may 
judge from the marked crystalline characters of the thebolactate of morphia, 
it seems probable that we may gain, by a study of the physical peculiarities ' 
of the compounds into which this acid enters, much assistance in the investi¬ 
gation of the crystalline precipitate observable in opium extracts. 
The other discrepancies between the two analyses we have referred to, 
are, in respect to some of the principles considerable, yet will not, we think, 
seriously affect the deductions we have already made. 
The only other misstatements which, so far as we know, occur in our 
former paper, are in connection with the presence of substances, which can 
scarcely be said to be proper to opium. The large crystals which appear in 
the extracts of the various Indian opiums, and which were attributed to the 
existence of large quantities of codeia, seem probably to be due rather 
to certain adulterants which we have since learned, through our friend 
Dr. Piddell, are extensively employed on the Indian continent. It is not 
impossible that the jaggery, or palm sugar, which is used in this way, may 
have much to do with their presence, though we still believe the larger pro¬ 
portion of codeia, which we then assigned to the Patna variety, to be correct 
in point of fact. 
We have found it necessary to adopt some precautions against the inaccu¬ 
racies which are liable to accrue from the varying proportions of inorganic 
constituents, and are satisfied that the quantity of earthy salts contained in 
opium is commonly much underrated. 
In a field so new and untried it would be unreasonable to expect results 
entirely free from error, and, notwithstanding the observations we have been 
compelled to place at the beginning of this paper, we retain the conviction, 
unaltered, that with a little practice the microscope affords a ready means of 
judging the qualities of preparations of opium, and even of affording indica¬ 
tions of the nature of the solvents, and the process of manufacture which has 
been employed. 
