January 7,1871.] 
TIIE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
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the table compiled by Mr., now Dr. Watts, who was 
then an associate, which'showcd the strength of solntions 
of phosphoric acid of different specific gravities, and that 
table had since been introduced into nearly all the text¬ 
books of chemistry recently published. 
Mr. Howden said it must be remembered taking spe¬ 
cific gravity was not entirely an intellectual feat; it 
could not be done by means of any formula of propor¬ 
tion. A table to bo useful throughout the world could 
only be arrived at by actual experiment, and frequent 
experiment on each substance, because the capacity of 
the bottle altered with the temperature, and no formula 
could meet that. 
Professor Attfield said a much greater difficulty was 
this, that whereas the expansion of all gases for equal 
increments or decrements of temperature was the same, 
the expansion of liquids varied with almost every sub¬ 
stance, and hence the experiment would have to be per¬ 
formed with every separate liquid included in the table. 
The Chairman said he quite concurred with what had 
been said as to the usefulness of such a table. With 
regard to hospitality and attention shov/n to foreign 
visitors, he did not think Mr. Howden intended to con¬ 
vey that there was any lack on the part, either of their 
Society or the public institutions in this country, but 
rather that sufficient public notice was not given of their 
desires in that respect. Last year Professor Soubeiran 
visited the institution, attended the examinations for an 
hour or two, and afterwards visited the Conversazione 
at South Kensington Museum; and it was constantly 
the case during the session, that they had visitors at¬ 
tending the examinations and the other work of the 
institution. He thought, however, it might be possible 
to make it more publicly known that visitors would be 
welcomed. 
Note on Australian Opium. 
The Chairman then called upon Mr. J. S. Ward to 
read a paper giving the results of an examination of a 
specimen of Australian-grown opium. The paper will 
be found printed in extenso at p. 543. 
Mr. Hanbury said ho did not quite catch whether the 
juice which exuded after the scarification of the capsules 
was allowed to harden on them before it was collected. 
It would also be interesting to know whether the cap¬ 
sules were scarified longitudinally, or transversely as 
was done in Turkey. 
Mr. Ward said he had no information beyond that 
contained in the letter which he had read; but as it 
stated that a person followed immediately after the one 
nicking to collect the drops, he should say it was collected 
when in a soft state. 
Professor Bentley said on first exuding, the liquid 
would be absolute juice, and would be, he should ima¬ 
gine, very difficult to collect. 
The Chairman said the opium question was very in¬ 
teresting just at present, on account of the high price of 
the article. No doubt there was a large demand for its 
use on th o Continent, and anything which would lead to 
a diminution of price would be of great advantage to 
every on e. 
Mr. H owden said one reason for the increase of price 
was to bo found in the enormous consumption in the 
United States, there being one firm in Philadelphia 
alone which could sweep the whole of the London mar¬ 
ket. With reference to the cultivation of opium in 
Australia, it was very mueh to bo desired that experi¬ 
ments on the growth of plants in various climates and 
countries should be encouraged, but the results should 
be regarded with considerable suspicion until the medi¬ 
cinal virtues of the product could be accurately ascer¬ 
tained. The climatic difference in the growth of plants 
was something enormous, and in some cases it entirely 
altered the nature of the production. For instance, 
henbane and belladonna produced very valuable reme¬ 
dies when grown in this country, but in the United 
States the same plants had no medicinal value whatever. 
The cereals were, of all plants in the vegetable king¬ 
dom, those which boro transplanting with the least 
injury, growing with wonderful success in all parts of 
the world; indeed, it is well known that corn from 
Dantzic, the coast of Chili and Australia was absolutely 
better than that grown by the best English farmers. 
But this, however, was not the case with many other 
plants, and in the matter of drugs careful experiment 
was necessary to verify the results. 
The Chairman asked if the consumption of opium had 
increased rapidly in the United States, because the 
price had gone up all at once, and, in fact, had been 
higher at one time than it was now ? 
Mr. Howden said large portions of the interior of the 
American continent were perfectly level, so that you 
could ride for hundreds of miles over land as fiat as the 
table. The nature of the soil was most prolific, produc¬ 
ing most wonderfully fine root-crops ; but, as might bo 
expected, the drainage was indifferent, and ho had been 
painfully conscious of the presence of sulphuretted hy¬ 
drogen gas, not in particular localities, but over areas 
many miles in extent. This naturally produced ague 
and low forms of fever, and from some occult reason it 
was quite certain that wherever this tendency existed 
the consumption of opium kept pace with it. This was 
seen in our own eastern counties, where laudanum and 
opium were used to a much greater extent than in the 
hilly districts. No doubt when these districts become 
more thoroughly civilized, and better systems of drain¬ 
age were adopted, the consumption of opium might 
decrease. 
Professor Bentley said there was really not much in¬ 
formation in the paper on the most important point, viz. 
whether opium could be profitably cultivated in Aus¬ 
tralia ? Even in England it could be produced sometimes 
of very fair quality, and ho believed there were speci¬ 
mens in the Museum which had been found to contain 10 
per cent, or more of morphia. The point was not whether 
a particular specimen could be produced, but whether on 
the average of summers there was such an amount of 
light and heat as would enable the cultivator to grow it 
to commercial advantage. The question raised by Mr. 
Howden was one of great interest and importance, viz. 
the infiuenco of climate, culture and soil on the growth 
of medicinal plants ; and he did not know anything more 
likely to yield useful results than a series of experiments 
on this subject; but they must be carried out with the 
greatest care and exactitude. He believed that much of 
the uncertainty of the action of medicines, in consequence 
of which blame had sometimes been thrown on chemists 
in times past, was due to the difference in the plants 
supplied to them. It was well known that a plant grown 
in one district would differ very materially in its proper¬ 
ties from those grown in another. 
Mr. Butt asked if the opium were analysed in a dry 
state, or when of the usual consistence of Smyrna opium, 
as this would make a considerable difference in the per¬ 
centage of morphia. 
Mr. Ward said he analysed it towards the end of 
August, when it was quite soft. 
Mr. Hardcastle asked if it had ever been decided 
which variety of the poppy was best for opium-producing* 
purposes, regard being had to quantity or quality or 
both. 
Professor Bentley said there were only two main 
varieties used, the white and the black, and opinions 
varied as to which was the best. The white was more 
largely cultivated in some districts, but, as far as he 
knew, careful investigators were unable to find any ap¬ 
preciable difference between the two. 
Mr. Umney said if the cultivation of the poppy could 
bo carried on in Australia on a large scale, a quarter 
of an acre yielding 14 lb. of opium, it would be a fine 
speculation, as the land would realize from £70 to £80 
per acre. 
