1 68  Deodorized  Opium  and  Tincture.      { Am^;^ilm 
being  evaporated,  and  when  concentration  of  it  has  reached  four 
parts  by  measure  let  it  cool,  and  add  to  it  an  equal  volume  of  gaso- 
line;  let  stand  for  twelve  hours;  separate  the  gasoline  and  pass  the 
opium  solution  through  a  paper  filter  and  evaporate  to  half  its  bulk. 
Now  make  a  morphine  assay  and  add  sufficient  diluted  alcohol  to 
make  the  finished  liquid  opium  have  a  morphine  strength  of  24 
grains  to  the  fluid  ounce.  A  liquid  preparation  of  opium  having 
this  morphine  strength  is  to  be  found  in  the  price-lists  of  the  manu- 
facturers of  fluid  extracts  under  different  titles.  It  is  recommended 
by  them  for  preparing  easily  paregoric,  laudanum,  deodorized  tinct- 
ure and  other  liquid  preparations  of  opium,  and  is  said  to  have  a 
ready  sale. 
For  years  the  writer  has  kept  this  concentrated  liquid  opium  as  a 
stock  preparation.  He  has  found  that  when  made  more  concen- 
trated than  four  parts  by  measure  to  one  part  by  weight  of  opium 
used,  there  will  be  a  separation  of  crystalline  matter,  whi;h,  on 
examination,  will  be  found  to  be  largely  narcotine.  When  the  opium 
is  exhausted  only  by  hot  water  the  average  quantity  of  narcotine 
extracted  is  about  three  per  cent. ;  when  acetic  acid  is  employed  as 
above  directed  the  amount  of  narcotine  extracted  averages  from 
five  to  eight  per  cent. 
We  have  found  that  hydrochloric  acid  is  the  better  solvent  for 
narcotine,  but  have  employed  acetic  acid,  as  the  excess  of  acetic 
acid  is  driven  off  in  evaporating  the  infusion  to  a  dry  state.  We 
have  also  employed  citric  and  tartaric  acids,  but  they  were  not 
satisfactory,  as  we  were  unable  to  adjust  the  quantity  necessary  to 
be  used  for  the  purpose. 
The  writer  does  not  favor  a  concentrated  liquid  opium  as  an 
official  preparation.  It  is  only  an  additional  expense  and  a  danger 
risk  to  the  pharmacist.  We  prefer  a  granular  opium  which  has 
been  freed  from  its  objectionable  noxious  principles  with  gasoline. 
The  process  that  the  writer  has  used  is  as  follows : 
The  moist  opium,  by  means  of  a  pair  of  shears,  is  cut  into  slices  ; 
these  are  laid  on  a  cloth,  which  is  put  into  a  sieve  and  set  in  a  warm 
place  to  dry.  When  dry  it  should  be  grated.  Machines  that 
answer  this  purpose  may  be  had  in  the  market  at  a  cost  of  about  a 
dollar.  We  have  found  that  if  the  size  of  the  granular  powder  is 
from  No.  10  to  20  it  is  fine  enough.  Now  take  a  glass  funnel 
double  the  size  of  the  quantity  of  opium  to  be  operated  upon,  cork 
