VARIETIES. 
393 
Use  of  Opium  in  the  United  States. — A  writer  in  the  New  York  Journal 
of  Commerce  has  been  making  some  investigations  into  the  annual  imports 
of  opium  into  the  United  States  since  1840.     He  says  that: — 
"While  $40,874  paid  the  foreign  cost  of  all  the  opium  imported  at  the 
ports  of  the  United  States  in  1840,  it  took  $932,887  to  pay  the  cost  in  the 
year  ending  June  30,  1862, — an  increase  from  forty  thousand  to  nearly  one 
million  of  dollars  in  less  than  twenty-five  years. 
"Of  the  large  sum  last  mentioned,  30,482  pounds,  valued  at  $96,174, 
were  landed  at  Boston  ;  163,055  pounds,  valued  at  $554,443,  at  New  York  ; 
while  the  value  of  $281,796,  mostly  'prepared'  opium,  was  landed  on  the 
Pacific,  chiefly  for  the  use  of  the  Chinese  in  California.  It  is  true  that  the 
medical  business  connected  with  the  army  is  responsible  for  a  portion  of 
this  increase  since  the  war  began  ;  but  the  statistics  show  a  very  heavy 
consumption  of  opium  previous  to  the  war,  the  imports  for  the  year  ending 
June  30,  1860,  averaging  over  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  pounds 
per  annum.  This  is  an  enormous  amount  for  the  consumption  of  this 
country,  and  shows  that  a  large  number  of  people  must  use  the  drug 
habitually,  in  some  form,  for  the  gratification  of  their  cravings  for  a  stimu- 
lant. There  may  be  less  disgrace  connected  with  its  use,  but  the  effects, 
mental  and  physical,  are  far  more  injurious  than  those  which  follow  the 
abuse  of  alcoholic  drinks,  while  the  habit  is  much  less  easily  cured  or  re- 
strained."— American  Druggists'  Circular,  from  Boston  Med.  and  Surg, 
Journ.,  July  6,  1865. 
Eucalyptus  Resinifera. — In  the  Jardin  d' Acclimation,  at  Algiers,  is  a  tree 
brought  within  a  few  years  from  Australia,  the  Eucalyptus  Resinifera, 
which  has  attained  a  height  of  thirty  feet  and  a  diameter  of  six  inches  in 
two  years.  This  remarkable  tree,  in  its  native  soil — Australia — sometimes 
reaches  the  height  of  three  hundred  and  forty  feet,  and  has  been  found 
more  than  nineteen  feet  in  diameter  at  about  a  yard  from  the  ground.  It 
often  yields  planks  two  hundred  feet  long,  without  a  single  defect.  The 
wood,  notwithstanding  its  rapid  growth,  is  hard,  and  heavier  than  oak.  It 
also  presents  beautiful  colors,  and  is  consequently  well  adapted  for  cabinet 
work.  An  astringent  gum,  known  in  commerce  as  kino,  is  obtained  by 
making  incisions  into  its  bark.  The  eucalyptus  is  an  evergreen  ;  its  leaves 
have  nearly  the  same  shape  as  the  laurel.  The  development  of  its  lateral 
branches  arc  no  less  wonderful  than  its  stems.  They  are  small  until  the 
trunk  attains  the  height  of  about  one  hundred  feet,  when  they  shoot  out 
almost  horizontally,  sometimes  to  the  length  of  ninety  feet,  giving  the  tree 
the  appearance  of  an  enormous  umbrella.  The  seed,  strange  to  say,  is  very 
small,  and  not  unlike  that  of  the  tobacco  plant.  The  flowers  are  white,  of 
a  most  agreeable  smell,  and  much  liked  by  bees,  which  extract  from  them 
a  most  delicious  honey.  It  is  also  remarked  in  Australia  that  the  ngue  is 
almost  unknown  in  districts  where  this  tree  is  abundant. — Medical  and 
Surgical  Reporter,  Aug.  12,  1865. 
