OPIUM. 
§§ 355-357-1 
293 
§ 355. Statistics. —During the five years ending 1916, 338 deaths 
in England and Wales were attributed to some form or other of opium 
or its active constituents ; 163 were due to accident or negligence ; 173 
were suicidal and 2 were homicidal deaths. There has been a great 
decrease in poisoning from opiates, due to the stricter legal enactments 
as to the sale of poisons and the introduction of other forms of narcotics. 
The sex distribution of the deaths ascribed to accident and those ascribed 
to suicide is detailed in the following tabular statement:— 
DEATHS IN ENGLAND AND WALES DURING THE FIVE YEARS 1911-1916 
FROM OPIUM, LAUDANUM, MORPHINE, Etc. 
Accident. 
Males . 
Females. 
. 117 
. 46 
Total 
163 
Suicide. 
Males 
Females 
Total 
125 
48 
173 
§ 356. Poisoning of Children by Opium.— The drugging of children 
by opium—sometimes with a view to destroy life, sometimes merely for 
the sake of the continual narcotism of the infant—is especially rife in 
India. 1 A little solid opium is applied to the roof of the mouth, or 
smeared on the tongue, and some Indian mothers have been known to 
plaster the nipples with opium, so that the child imbibes it with the 
milk. Europeans, again and again, have discovered the native nurses 
administering opiates to the infants under their care, and it is feared 
that in many cases detection is avoided. 
The ignorant use of poppy-tea has frequently caused the death of 
young children ; thus in 1875 an inquest was held at Chelsea on the 
body of a little boy 2 J years old. He had been suffering from whooping- 
cough and enlargement of the bowels, and poppy-tea was by the advice 
of a neighbour given to him. Two poppy-heads were used in making a 
quart of tea, and the boy, after drinking a great portion of it, fell into 
a deep sleep, and died with all the symptoms of narcotic poisoning. 
§ 357. Doses of Opium and Morphia. —Opium in the solid state is 
prescribed for adults in quantities not exceeding 3 grains, the usual dose 
being from 16-2 mgrms. to 64-8 mgrms. (J to 1 grain). The extract of 
opium is given in exactly the same proportions (special circumstances, 
such as the habitual use of opium, excepted) ; the dose of all the com¬ 
pounds of opium is mainly regulated by the proportion of opium contained 
in them. 
The dose for children (who bear opium ill) is usually very small ; 
single drops of laudanum are given to infants at the breast, and the dose 
cautiously increased according to age. Most practitioners would consider 
1 See Dr Chever’s Juriaprudence, 3rd ed., pp. 232 et seq. 
