OPIUM  AS  A  THERAPEUTIC  AGENT. 
119 
attempt  is  made  to  correct  the  want  of  uniform  strength  of  the 
drug,  and  indeed  one  at  least  of  the  most  popular  of  these  is 
rather  remarkable  for  a  want  of  uniformity  in  effect.  But  effort 
seems  to  have  been  chiefly  directed  first  to  preserve  the  natural 
condition  and  combination  of  the  constituents;  and  secondly,  to 
exclude  certain  inert  matters  and  other  constituents  supposed 
to  produce  unpleasant  effects.  In  France,  however,  there  has 
been  an  effort  recently  made  with  the  direct  object  of  attaining 
uniformity  of  strength.  A  preparation  has  been  introduced  as 
"  opium  titre,"  made  by  mixing  the  contents  of  an  entire  case 
of  opium  into  a  magma  with  water,  adjusting  the  strength  of 
the  whole  to  a  given  standard  by  abstracting  insoluble  inert 
matters  from  it,  drying  to  a  given  consistence,  and  finally  put- 
ting it  up  in  stamped  packages  of  fixed  weight,  enveloped  in 
tin  foil. 
This  method  is  liable  to  the  grave  objection  that  it  is  not 
generally  applicable,  but  must  be  confined  to  the  large  manu- 
facturer, since,  to  obtain  good  average  results,  large  quantities 
must  be  operated  upon. 
To  accomplish  the  desired  object  of  uniformity  in  this  im- 
portant drug,  and  to  introduce  into  pharmacy  the  principal  of 
assayed  solutions,  the  writer  has  constructed  and  practised  a 
formula  now  to  be  given,  which,  from  the  limited  trials  to  which 
the  preparation  has  been  put,  encourages  the  hope  that  upon 
further  application  it  may  be  found  of  sufficient  importance  to 
be  admitted  to  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
It  is  not  proposed  as  an  unobjectionable  preparation,  nor  as 
one  that  meets  all  the  desired  indications,  nor  certainly  not  as  a 
preparation  that  will  either  do  or  avoid  what  the  best  specimens 
of  opium  in  substance  would.  But  it  is  simply  offered  as  a  skil- 
fully constructed  preparation  of  uniform  strength,  wherein  much 
of  the  inert  and  objectionable  matter  of  the  opium  is  avoided, 
and  the  sedative  anodyne  effect  preserved  in  known  and  con- 
trollable quantity. 
When  opium  is  given  in  large  doses  it  seems  often  to  meet 
the  indications  to  its  use  with  a  shock  or  concussion,  and  in  pro- 
portion as  the  impression  is  profound  and  continued,  and  in 
proportion  as  it  over-reaches  the  desired  object,  in  the  same 
proportion  is  the  subsequent  reaction,  producing  depression, 
