62 
ON INDIGENOUS OPIUM. 
suits with the idea expressed by the author, that the Papa- 
ver somniferum grows with facility in France, even on bad 
soils; but he should have informed us whether in this case 
the opium collected was as abundant and of as good quality, 
which is not very probable. 
These experiments were undertaken with the view of 
determining the quality of the opium which General La- 
marque had obtained by incision of poppies cultivated on 
his lands : in Pelletier's Memoir {Journal de Pharmacie, 
Vol. XXI. p. 572,) we read :— 
" 500 grammes of French opium will give 51 grammes 
of morphia," corresponding to 10.2 per cent. 
Further on, Pellitier adds : — " 500 grammes of opium 
from the East will give only 45 grammes of morphia," or 9 
per cent. 
It is evident that the comparative analysis of the opium 
of Smyrna and that of the environs of Bordeaux showed a 
difference in favor of the latter, analogous to that which 
we now find between the product collected in Algiers and 
the opium of the East. 
With regard to the enormous proportions of 14 and 22 
per cent, of morphia obtained by M. Caventou from sam- 
ples of indigenous opium, they can be explained only by 
the impurity of the product. 
The proportion of morphia indicated by Pelletier, more 
considerable than that obtained by the other experimenters, 
does not, however, amount to more than 10.2 per cent, of 
morphia for indigenous opium ; we are not warranted in 
repressing a doubt relative to the proportion of 12 per cent, 
announced in a sample brought from Algiers. 
Be it as it may, we do not think it right to raise, beyond 
the terms of our report, the hopes which we have expressed 
concerning our future collection of opium in Algiers. 
The enlightened solicitude of the Duke of Dalmatia for 
the interests of our colony of Algiers, will doubtless induce 
him to continue his experiments on the culture of the Pa- 
