Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  | 
Mar.,  1877.  | 
Tinctura  Opii  Deodorata. 
TINCTURA  OPII  DEODORATA. 
By  Theod.  G.  Davis. 
Much  has  been  written  about  opium  and  its  preparations,  particularly 
this,  the  most  elegant  of  all,  yet  I  trust  I  am  not  presuming  in  giving 
the  following,  my  favorite  mode  of  manipulating. 
The  proportions  used  are  the  same  as  in  the  ct  Pharmacopoeia"  pro- 
cess, except  of  alcohol,  of  which  double  the  amount  is  used. 
Boil  the  opium,  with  twelve  fluidounces  of  water,  for  half  an  hour, 
and  strain,  with  expression,  through  muslin  ;  boil  the  residue  with  eight 
fluidounces  of  water  for  fifteen  minutes  and  again  express  ;  repeat  the 
same  operation  with  four  fluidounces  of  water ;  mix  the  expressed 
liquids,  evaporate  to  four  fluidounces,  when  nearly  cold  add,  gradually, 
with  agitation,  eight  fluidounces  of  alcohol  (to  precipitate  gum,  starch, 
pectin,  etc.),  filter,  washing  the  filter  with  alcohol,  and  evaporate  to 
four  fluidounces  (the  alcohol  may  be  recovered  by  distillation)  ;  when 
cool,  finish  by  shaking  with  ether,  etc.,  as  directed  in  the  "  Pharma- 
copoeia "  process,  which  requires  four  day  s  before  a  finished  product  is 
obtained,  while  by  the  proposed  process  one  day  is  sufficient  in  which 
to  obtain  a  preparation  more  elegant  in  appearance  and  more  com- 
pletely deodorized  than  any  I  have  been  able  to  prepare  when  following 
'the  officinal  directions. 
VARIETIES. 
An  Ancient  Metrical  System.— From  the  library  of  Sardanapalus,  King  of 
Assyria  (found  by  Layard  at  Niniveh),  it  is  proved  that  the  Assyrians,  some  3,000 
years  ago,  had  a  system  of  weights  and  measures  almost  as  philosophical  and 
methodical  as  the  French  metrical  system,  all  the  units  of  surface,  volume  and 
weight  being  derived  from  a  single  linear  unit.  The  base  of  the  system  was  the 
cubit  or  elbow  (equal  to  20*67  of  our  inches).  These  cubits,  multiplied  with  360, 
gave  the  stadium,  measure  for  great  distances.  The  fundamental  unit  of  surface 
was  the  square  foot  (foot  equal  to  three-fifths  of  the  cubit).  The  cubic  foot 
constituted  the  metreta  (bushel),  which,  with  its  sub-divisions,  was  the  standard  of 
all  measures  of  capacity.  A  metreta  of  water  was  the  talent,  the  unit  of  all 
measures  of  weight.  The  sixtieth  part  of  the  metrita  gave  the  mine,  and  this  divided 
into  sixty  parts  the  drachm.  The  weight  of  the  metrita  (or  bushel,  water)  was  about 
70  avoirdupois  pounds,  the  mine  about  187  ounces,  and  the  drachm  about  159 
grains.  The  sexagesimal  system  appears  to  have  been  used  in  all  these  calculations, 
and  is  evidently  a  very  practical  one,  combining  the  advantages  of  the  decimal  and 
•the  duodecimal  systems  — H.  M.  W.  from  Manuf.  and  Build. 
