1028 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS, 
[June 22, 1872. 
should be placed convenient to the prescription 
counter, for this if for no other purpose.* 
With a small proportion of morphia salt the pre¬ 
cipitate is often not observed until after standing 
a short time .—American Journal of Pharmacy. 
POPPY CULTURE I NT AUSTRALIA. 
Some attention has recently been given to the 
cultivation of the poppy for commercial purposes in 
various parts of Australia. From a letter which 
recently appeared in a colonial paper, describing the 
results of an experiment in poppy culture in the 
Bendigo district, we gather the following interesting 
facts. About a drachm of the seed, which was that 
of the white variety, was sown in the early part of 
August along each of three drills, 86 feet long and 
2 feet apart, and were lightly covered with small 
firewood, bark and sand. The land "was rather 
heavy, and mixed with a good deal of quartz. It 
had been well manured and broken up ; grape vines 
had been grown on it for a succession of years. On 
the 18tli day after sowing, the young shoots were 
visible, looking like fine blades of grass, and they 
continued to grow pretty well. When between five 
and six inches high they were weeded out, and 
several were transplanted, but all the latter died, in 
consequence, probabty, of insufficient watering and 
the heat of the weather. By the 20th November 
the others were flourishing “ like great cabbages.” 
These began to flower pretty freely by the first 
week in December, by the time the plants were 
about 5 feet or 5 feet 8 inches high. The capsules 
produced varied in size from 1 inch to 2| inches in 
diameter. After the petals had fallen off, and while 
the stamens were still clustering round the neck of 
the capsules, horizontal incisions half round the 
Reads at their lower part were made. A creamy 
juice exuded from these cuts, which were made in 
the afternoon, and it soon became pinkish, and by 
the following morning brownish-red, and of a tena¬ 
cious consistence, when it was scraped off with a 
sharp straight knife, and collected on the edge of a 
small tin cover, which plan is recommended as being 
less troublesome and not so wasteful as the usual 
one of gathering the opium upon the poppy leaf. 
Each poppy head did not yield more than equal to 
tire bulk of a small pea, and from all the plants 
raised from the drachm of seed 250 grains of 
(Opium were collected ; but it must be borne in mind 
That many plants were entirely lost, and others not 
matured. The opium collected was considered to 
be of very good quality. 
The conclusions arrived at from this experiment 
■are that the poppy requires a certain amount of 
careful nursing and a pretty liberal supply of water. 
The distance between the rows should be three feet, 
to allow of the full growth of the leaves and room 
to pass between the plants when collecting the juice. 
A sheltered aspect should be chosen, so as to pro¬ 
tect the plants from strong winds. Finally, the 
writer says,—“ The collection of the product is not, 
to say the least, very agreeable; and, from the 
* Commercial iodide of potassium is usually crystallized 
from alkaline solutions in order to obtain it in opaque cubes; 
recrystallization or granulation from water will effectually 
remove any adhering alkaline carbonate .—Editor Amer. 
Journ, Pharm. 
length of time occupied by it, the labour must be 
very cheap for the crop to pay. Perhaps the plant 
might be cultivated with profit near industrial 
schools. In conclusion, I think the opium poppy 
can be successfully raised in this district if a plenti¬ 
ful supply of water be available when necessary.” 
Clujjtus for Students. 
CHEMICAL NOTES TO THE PIIARMACOPCEIA. 
BY WILLIAM A. TILDEX, D.SC. LOND. 
DEMONSTRATOR OE PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY TO THE 
PHARMACEUTICAL SOCIETY. 
Zinci Acetas. —Zn (C 2 H 3 0 2 ) 2 2H 2 0. Carbonate 
of zinc is dissolved in acetic acid diluted with 
about an equal quantity of water, and Mie solution 
set aside to crystallize, 
ZnC0 3 ’. 2Zn (HO) 2 + G [HC 2 H 3 0„] = 
3 [Zn(C 2 H 3 0 2 ) 2 ] -fC0 2 +5H 2 (X 
The same compound is of course produced when 
the oxide or metallic zinc is dissolved in acetic acid. 
In the latter case hydrogen gas is slowly evolved. 
The salt is recognized as an acetate by evolving 
acetic acid when decomposed by sulphuric acid, and 
as a compound of zinc by giving a white precipitate 
of sulphide of zinc with sulphuretted hydrogen or 
with sulphydrate of ammonium. 
[§ A dilute watery solution is not affected by 
chloride of barium or nitrate of silver, and when 
slightly acidulated with hydrochloric acid is not 
precipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen; after it has 
been boiled with a little nitric acid, it yields with 
ammonia a white precipitate entirely soluble with¬ 
out colour in an excess of the reagent.] The fore¬ 
going tests taken in order are intended to indicate 
the absence of the following impurities :—Sulphate ; 
chloride ; copper and lead; iron. 
ZixciCarbonas.—Z nC0 3 2Zn(HO) 2 . H 2 0. Boil¬ 
ing solutions of sulphate of zinc and carbonate of 
sodium are mixed, and the liquid kept hot until 
effervescence has ceased. The precipitate is then 
collected and washed to free it from sulphate of 
sodium. 
The carbonate of zinc which is at first precipitated 
is resolved by the action of water into C0 2 , which 
escapes and a hydrate-carbonate which constitutes 
the official salt. 
3ZnS0 4 + 3Na 2 C0 3 + 2H 2 G 
= SZnC0 3 + 3Na„S0 4 + 2H 2 0 
=ZnC0 3 .2Zn(H0) 2 + 3Na 2 S0 4 + 2C0 2 . 
This decomposition of the precipitated normal 
carbonate in presence of water always occurs, except 
in the case of the barium, strontium, and calcium 
carbonates. . [See Magn. et Ferri Carbonates.] 
Zinci Cht.oridum.— ZnCl 2 . Metallic zinc is dis¬ 
solved to saturation in diluted hydrochloric acid. 
Zn + 2HC1 = H 2 + ZnCl 2 . 
And then in order to remove lead and iron, if pre¬ 
sent, from the filtered solution, a small quantity of 
chlorine water is added, and the whole is agitated 
with carbonate of zinc. The chlorine converts the 
metals into perclilorides. 
2FeCl 2 + Cl 2 = Fe,Cl 6 
PbCl 2 + C£ = PbCl 4 , 
and the carbonate of zinc causes their precipitation 
as hydrates. 
