June 8, 1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
9sr 
subject to frequent showers, the incisions are made 
in the capsule about daybreak, and the milky juice 
which oozes forth is collected before noon. In the 
drier regions, where a more equable temperature 
prevails, the capsules are incised before sunset, be¬ 
cause night favours the secretion of the sap, which 
is then collected on the following morning. After 
collecting the juice the capsules are left to ripen, the 
seed being saved for sowing, or for obtaining oil, and 
the oil-cake, after expression, is used either for ma¬ 
nure or for feeding cattle. A certain quantity of 
the capsules, either broken and freed from the seeds 
or entire, arfc sold for pharmaceutical use. In cer¬ 
tain localities the poppy seeds are eaten for pleasure, 
and sometimes, among those "who give way to this 
practice, a slight narcotic effect is observed. 
A deunum of good land (about 1600 square 
yards), ■well prepared, will yield from 2 to 24 okes 
of opium and 5 bushels of seed. But the yield of 
both opium and seed varies considerably. 
The inspissated juice is collected in earthen, copper 
or wooden vessels, and a few days later it is moulded 
or kneaded into shape by the hands, with heat. 
After exposure for some time to the sun, the lumps 
or cakes are rolled over Rumex seeds, and -wrapped 
in poppy leaves, in which state they pass into com¬ 
merce. The great variety of shape, size, and ap¬ 
pearance of these cakes of opium is remarkable, for 
each locality seems to have a special type or form of 
its own. 
The cultivator is always under heavy liabilities 
to speculators and dealers, who purchase his crop in 
advance, and 18 to 25 per cent, interest is considered 
moderate. From these factors it passes again through 
three or four hands before it arrives at the ports of 
shipment. 
The opium obtained from small poppy-heads is the 
most rich in morphia, and siliceous clayey soils are 
found to be more favourable to the production of 
opium than light friable soils. 
The following was the export of opium from certain 
localities in Turkey in the year 1866, which will 
serve as an indication to the principal seats of pro¬ 
duction :— 
Localities. Okes. 
Ighakli.6,250 
Tchol.3,125 
Kikler ........ 1,250 
Bolvaclina ...... 3,125 
Hanya.3,125 
Sandikli.1,875 
Chahvar.6,250 
Cheiklou.12,500 
Kara Hissar.18,750 
Sihanli.7,500 
Gueive.2,000 
Lefke. 200 
Gueul Bazar. 800 
Kara Hissar Sahib . . . 81,250 
Kharpout (Malatia) . . 50 
Rhodes. 2 
Baloukesser.2,000 
Angora (Mihalidjik) . . 2,000 
152,052 
As the oke is reckoned at 2f lb., this gives about 
418,513 lb. of opium, the approximative local value 
of which was 40,000,000 of piastres. 
If the growers were free from the rapacity of the 
usurer, no more profitable culture could be carried orn 
than opium. Taking the ordinary yield of a deunum' 
of land at 2 okes (5^- lb.) of opium, at the mean price 
of 230 piastres, and adding 5 bushels of seed -worth 
at least 30 piastres the bushel, this gives a total value 
of 610 piastres. If from this 200 piastres be deducted 
for the maximum expense of cultivation, this leaves 
a profit of 410 piastres (about «£4), a higher return 
than can be obtained from any other culture. 
If it were not stated by an officer of the govern¬ 
ment, we should hardly have credited the extent of 
adulteration carried on, and which has to be guarded 
against by the purchaser. 
Amongst the adulterating substances enumerated 
are scrapings and decoctions of the stem and leaves 
of the poppy, raisins, glucose, the pulp of fruit, the 
yolk of eggs, wax, marble, powdered bricks, rosin 
and galipot; all these are called into requisition to 
render the opium more heavy and to add to its bulk. 
Often 10 to 12 per cent, of water is added. Of late 
years one or two large shipping firms have retained 
chemists to analyse and certify to the quality of the 
opium they export, which is sold with a guarantee-; 
but the small dealers and local druggists are still 
subject to all these current frauds. 
(To be continued.') 
eLjjsjjtas for Stotnfo. 
CHEMICAL NOTES TO THE PHAEMACOPCEIA. 
BY WILLIAM A. TILDEN, D.SC. LOND. 
DEMONSTRATOR OF PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY TO THE 
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. 
Sulphur Pr/ecipitatum. —Flowers of sulphur and 
slaked lime are boiled together with water for some 
time. The deep yellow liquid is filtered, cooled, 
diluted with water, and then acidified with hydro¬ 
chloric acid, which throws down the sulphur in the 
form of a nearly white precipitate. 
The principal changes which occur are exhibited 
in the two following equations:— 
3 [CaO. HoO] H- 5S 0 = 
Slaked Lime. 
2 CaS s -J- 
Pentasulphide 
of Calcium. 
2 CaS s -f- 
Pentasulphide. 
3CaCl 2 -}- 
Chloride of Calcium. 
Sulphur. 
CaS 2 0 3 
Hyposulphite 
of Calcium. 
CaS 2 0 3 
Hyposulphite. 
6S 2 
Sulphur. 
+ 
3H,0 
Water. 
+ 6HC1 = 
Hydrochloric acid. 
3H 2 0 
Water. 
In consequence of secondary reactions occurring 
during the boiling, a little sulphuretted hydrogen is 
given off when the liquid is acidified. If sulphuric 
acid is employed instead of hydrochloric acid, a con¬ 
siderable quantity of sulphate of calcium is precipi¬ 
tated with the sulphur. 
[§ A greyish-yellow soft powder free from gritti¬ 
ness and from the smell of sulphuretted hydrogen. 
When heated in an open vessel, it burns with a blue; 
flame and the evolution of sulphurous acid. Entirely- 
volatilized by heat. Under the microscope it is seeni 
to consist of opaque globules without any admixture 
of crystalline matter.] The tests are designed to 
show that sulphate of calcium is not present. 
Milk of sulphur is usually not entirely soluble in 
bisulphide of carbon, a small quantity of allotropic 
sulphur remaining behind. 
Sulphur Sublimatum. — [§ Sulphur prepared 
from crude or rough sulphur by sublimation.] Sul- 
