564 
PREPARATION  OF  OPIUM  IN  FRANCE. 
ence,  several  of  these  varieties  of  wax  possess  the  essential 
properties  of  that  formed  by  the  bee  ;  indeed,  it  was  formerly 
supposed  that  bees  merely  collected  the  wax  already  formed  by 
the  vegetable;  but  Huber's  experiments  show  that  the  insect 
has  the  power  of  transmuting  sugar  into  wax,  and  that  it  is  in 
fact  a  secretion.  Japan  Wax  is  softer,  more  brittle,  and  fatty 
than  beeswax,  easily  kneaded,  and  melts  between  40p  and  42°  C. 
It  contains  twice  as  much  oxygen  as  beeswax,  and  has  a  differ- 
ent composition,  consisting  of  palmitic  acid,  united  with  oxide 
of  glyceryle.  The  small  parcels  which  formerly  reached  this 
country  have  been  used  in  Price's  Patent  Candle  Works,  in  sub- 
stitution for  wax,  and  for  hard  neutral  fat,  and,  after  conversion 
into  the  acid  state,  both  for  candles  and  night-lights.  If  the 
wholesale  price  can  be  reduced,  this  wax  will  find  its  way  into 
extensive  consumption  on  the  Continent  for  various  purposes." 
— Lon.  Pharm.  Jour,  and  Trans.  Sept.  1859. 
PREPARATION  OF  OPIUM  IN  FRANCE. 
M.  Roux,  Professor  of  Botany  at  the  Naval  School  of  Roche- 
fort,  has  just  sent  in  an  interesting  paper  to  the  Academy  of 
Science  on  the  cultivation  of  the  poppy  in  France  for  the  pur- 
pose of  extracting  opium.  His  first  researches  on  this  subject 
date  from  1851,  but  were  more  especially  continued  by 
him  during  1856,  1857,  and  1858,  on  eight  different  kinds  of 
poppy.  His  results  are  stated  as  follows  : — 1.  The  Indian  poppy 
furnishes  a  considerable  quantity  both  of  opium  and  seed ;  the 
cultivation  of  this  vigorous  species  might  be  tried  in  those  de- 
partments of  France  where  the  oil  of  the  black  garden  poppy  is 
a  staple  produce.  The  Indian  poppy  may  be  easily  acclimatized 
in  France.  A  quantity  sown  in  October,  1857,  has  succeeded 
perfectly,  and  the  young  plants  resisted  a  cold  of  10  degrees 
centigrade  (18  degrees  below  Fahrenheit's  freezing  point)  in  the 
following  winter.  This  cold  proved  equally  harmless  to  the 
white,  black,  and  red  species,  which  were  sown  about  the  same 
time.  2.  The  two  latter  produce  the  best  opium,  and  juice 
is  much  richer  in  morphine  than  is  the  case  with  the  opiums  of 
commerce.  3.  A  man  can  collect  100  grammes  of  opium  in 
fifteen  hours ;  and  if  women  and  children,  who  are  so  often  in 
