LIQUOR  OPII  COMPOSITUS. 
121 
hours.  Then  having  disintegrated  it  thoroughly  with  the  hand, 
transfer  it  to  a  paper  filter,  and  when  it  has  drained,  percolate 
the  residue  with  sixteen  parts  of  water.  When  it  has  again 
drained,  transfer  the  residue,  by  portions  of  about  two  parts 
each  at  a  time,  to  a  piece  of  strong  muslin,  and  wring  out  the  liquid 
from  it  by  strong  expression  with  the  hands.  Return  the  liquid 
obtained  by  expression  to  the  filter ;  break  up  the  expressed 
residue,  and  having  digested  it  again  for  twenty-four  hours,  with 
thirty.two  parts  of  water,  and  with  thorough  working  with  the 
hands,  transfer  it  again  to  the  filter,  drain  it,  percolate  it  with 
sixteen  parts  of  water,  and  express  by  wringing,  as  before.  Re- 
peat this  digestion,  rubbing  with  the  hands,  percolation  and 
expression  with  sixteen  parts  of  water  again  twice,  making  four 
times  in  all. 
Evaporate  the  filtrate  by  rapid  boiling  in  a  tared  tinned 
vessel  of  the  capacity  of  sixty-four  parts,  stirring  constantly 
toward  the  close  of  the  evaporation,  until  it  weighs  twelve  parts. 
Then  add  to  the  concentrated  solution  in  the  vessel,  forty-two 
parts  of  the  alcohol,  and  having  boiled  the  mixture  for  five 
minutes  with  constant  stirring,  set  it  aside  in  a  cold  place  for 
an  hour.  Decant  the  liquid  from  the  undissolved  residue  into  a 
vessel  of  the  capacity  of  one  hundred  parts,  and  repeat  the  boil- 
ing of  the  residue  with  alcohol  three  times,  twice  with  twenty- 
eight  parts  and  lastly  with  fourteen  parts,  allowing  to  each  solu- 
tion an  hour  to  cool  and  deposit  insoluble  matters.  Mix  the 
alcoholic  solutions  as  they  accumulate,  and  allow  the  whole  to 
stand  twenty-four  hours  in  a  cold  place. 
Pour  off  the  clear  alcoholic  solution  from  the  deposit,  and 
evaporate  it  by  boiling,  (or  distil  off  the  alcohol,)  until  the 
concentrated  solution  weighs  ten  parts.  Agitate  this  in  a  bottle 
with  six  parts  of  the  stronger  ether,  separate  the  ether  by  de- 
cantation,  and  repeat  the  washing  with  the  remainder  of  the 
ether,  and  separate  it  in  the  same  way.  Throw  the  ethereal 
solution  away,  and  dissolve  the  washed  extract  in  water  by 
agitation  in  a  tared  bottle,  and  having  diluted  the  solution  till 
it  weighs  eighty  parts,  agitate  it  occasionally  during  twenty- 
four  hours,  filter  it  through  paper,  and  wash  the  filter  with 
water  till  the  solution  weighs  eighty-five  parts.  This  solution 
is  then  to  be  assayed,  to  ascertain  the  proportion  of  morphia  it 
contains,  as  follows : 
