Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
January,  1900.  S 
Assay  of  Opium. 
37 
"  Introduce  the  opium  (which,  if  fresh,  should  be  in  very  small 
pieces,  and  if  dry,  in  very  fine  powder)  into  a  bottle  having  a  capa- 
city of  about  300  c.c,  add  100  c.c.  of  water,  cork  it  well,  and  agitate 
frequently  during  twelve  hours. 
"  Then  pour  the  whole  as  evenly  as  possible  upon  a  wetted  filter 
having  a  diameter  of  12  centimetres,  and,  when  the  liquid  has 
drained  off,  wash  the  residue  with  water,  carefully  dropped  upon 
the  edges  of  the  filter  and  the  contents,  until  1 50  c.c.  of  filtrate  are 
obtained. 
"  Then  carefully  transfer  the  moist  opium  back  to  the  bottle  by 
means  of  a  spatula,  add  50  c.c.  of  water,  agitate  thoroughly  and  re- 
peatedly during  fifteen  minutes,  and  return  the  whole  to  the  filter. 
"  When  the  liquid  has  drained  off,  wash  the  residue,  as  before,  until 
the  second  filtrate  measures  150  c.c,  and  finally  collect  about  20 
c.c.  more  of  a  third  filtrate. 
"Evaporate  in  a  tared  capsule,  first,  the  second  filtrate  to  a  small 
volume,  then  add  the  first  filtrate,  rinsing  the  vessel  with  the  third 
filtrate,  and  continue  the  evaporation  until  the  residue  weighs  14 
grammes. 
"Rotate  the  concentrated  solution  about  in  the  capsule  until  the 
rings  of  extract  are  redissolved,  pour  the  liquid  into  a  tared  Erlen- 
meyer  flask  having  a  capacity  of  about  100  c.c.  (here  it  will  be  best 
to  employ  a  flask  of  about  150  c.c.  capacity),  and  rinse  the  capsule 
with  a  few  drops  of  water  at  a  time,  until  the  entire  solution  weighs  20 
grammes." 
Add  60  grammes  (73-2  c.c.)  of  alcohol,  cork  well,  and  shake  ac- 
tively for  one  minute,  allow  the  flask  and  contents  to  stand  for 
thirty  minutes  undisturbed,  when  the  precipitated  matter  will  have 
completely  settled. 
Now  carefully  decant  the  clear  supernatant  liquid  into  a  tared 
capsule,  transfer  as  much  as  possible  of  the  precipitate  to  a  filter  of 
7  centimetres  diameter,  previously  moistened  with  a  mixture  of  al- 
cohol 3  parts,  and  water  I  part,  by  weight,  allow  the  liquid  to  drain 
thoroughly,  receiving  the  filtrate  in  the  capsule  containing  the  de- 
canted portion,  rinse  the  flask  with  small  portions  of  the  above 
alcohol-water  mixture  until  freed  from  the  precipitate,  using  2  or  3 
c.c.  at  a  time,  transferring  these  to  the  filter  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
wash  the  filter  and  its  contents,  and  allow  to  drain  before  adding  the 
subsequent  rinsings. 
Then  continue  the  washing  of  the  precipitate  and  filter,  by  care- 
