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CULTIVATION OF THE POPPY, ETC., IN INDIA. 
tobacco plant, the stramonium and the Indian hemp, &c. ; gummy 
exudations are used, the pulps of tamarind and of the bale fruit 
(segle marmelos) are employed, whilst catechu, turmeric, and the 
flowers of the mowha tree (Bassia latifolia) are added to impart 
color. 
The complex constitution of opium precludes the idea of a single 
test for revealing its purity ; morphiometry, though the most ac- 
curate, is too tedious to be resorted to as a general rule ; moreover, 
the commercial criteria of color, odor and texture, are considered 
more important than narcotic strength by the dealers, and excel- 
lent opium is sometimes condemned, when from some fault in pre- 
paring, it merely lacks those sensible qualities. Such opium is 
used in making lewah, and the cultivator is fined. The color of 
well-prepared opium is a deep dull brown when viewed in mass, 
which becomes a bright chestnut brown when a small portion of 
the drug is spread in a thin layer on a white surface ; it adheres 
to the finger, may be drawn out to a moderate extent, and breaks 
with a ragged fracture ; the presence of much pussewah renders it 
glutinous and more ductile. 
Its smell is perfectly sui generis and not unpleasant, and in the 
recent drug somewhat fruity. It breaks down readily in cold 
water in curdy flakes, which gradually subside, leaving a deep 
brownish-yellow colored supernatant liquid. When malaxated 
under water, though first adhering to the fingers, it soon separates, 
whilst if gum, or the juice of the Ficus Indica be present, it adheres 
strongly. Diacetate of lead added to the clear infusion separates 
an abundant flocculent precipitate of meconate of lead. Ammonia 
throws down a similarly abundant precipitate composed of resin 
and the alkaloids which speedily becomes black by exposure. 
The tinctures of iodine and sesquichloride of iron each precipitate 
the infusion brick red. These tests are applied in a few moments, 
and the comparative bulk of the precipitate enables the examiner 
to form a rude estimate of the value of the specimens, especially 
when adulterations have been practised. A solution of gelatin, 
and alcohol for the precipitation of tannin and gum, are the only 
other chemical tests resorted to. 
After having teen duly weighed in store, the opium receives 
but little treatment in the factory. It is kept in large wooden 
boxes capable of containing about 10 cwt. each, in which it 
