THE 
AMERICAN  JOURNAL  OF  PHAUMACY. 
JANUARY,  1  869. 
NOTE  ON  AN  A DU;:.TE RATION  OF  OPIUM. 
By  James  T.  King. 
On  examining  a  late  purchase  of  opium,  I  noticed,  on  breaking 
open  one  of  the  larger  pieces,  that  it  was  much  less  tenacious  or 
adhesive  than  opium  usually  is  when  containing  the  amount  of 
moisture  generally  found  in  it. 
Although  having  much  more  of  the  fragments  of  poppy  cap- 
sules and  leaves  mixed  with  it  than  a  good  article  should,  yet 
this  would  not  account  for  the  peculiar  brittleness,  or  want  of 
tenacity  in  the  opium,  and  it  was  evident  that  the  drug  was 
adulterated. 
A  portion  of  the  piece  was  triturated  with  cold  water  until 
well  broken  down,  and  then  alcohol,  equal  in  measure  to  the 
water  used,  was  added  and  allowed  to  macerate  for  several  days. 
It  was  then  transferred  to  a  percolater,  and  after  the  tincture 
had  passed  through,  water  was  added  until  the  drug  was  exhaust- 
ed of  all  soluble  matter. 
The  residue  was  transferred  to  a  beaker  and  thoroughly  agi- 
tated with  water,  and  allowed  to  rest  for  a  few  minutes  until  the 
heavier  portion  of  the  drug  had  subsided.  The  water,  holding 
the  finer  part  of  the  insoluble  matter  diffused  through  it,  was 
decanted  into  a  filter  and  the  precipitate  collected  and  dried. 
On  submitting  this  to  an  examination  with  a  microscope,  the 
finer  portion  was  found  to  consist  of  starch.  The  starch  gran- 
ules difi*ered,  however,  from  any  of  our  more  common  starches 
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