Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
November,  1920.  ) 
Effects  of  Opium. 
8ii 
rests  on  the  unproved  assumption  that  the  observed  loss  of  weight 
is  entirely  due  to  loss  of  moisture  pre-existing  in  the  opium.  (3) 
The  published  discussion  on  their  paper  ^  shows  that  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  B.  P.  method  has  the  same  degree  of  accuracy  for 
heated  as  for  unheated  opium. 
We  believe  that  we  have  overcome  these  objections  in  our  own 
work  by  using  the  method  of  estimating  morphine  devised  by  one 
of  us  (T)  2  which  is  equally  applicable  to  opium  in  any  form  irrespec- 
tive of  previous  heating,  and  regardless  of  its  moisture  content 
for  which  no  "correction"  is  necessary. 
The  claim  has  already  been  frequently  made  that  water  alone, 
even  when  boiling,  will  not  extract  all  the  morphine  from  opium ^ 
and  that  an  aqueous  extract  of  opium  loses  morphine  when  boiled 
or  evaporated  on  the  water  bath.  With  the  material  at  hand  we 
intended  to  enquire  further  into  these  matters.  Our  actual  results 
do  not  go  very  far  for  the  reason  already  mentioned,  but  at  least 
confirm  those  of  previous  workers. 
KXPERIMKNTAI^. 
The  Effect  of  Prolonged  Heating  on  Opium. — Each  batch  of 
opium  was  prepared  by  being  air-dried,  powdered  in  a  glass  mortar, 
and  passed  through  a  40-mesh  sieve.  The  resulting  powder  was 
heated  at  60°  C.  for  24  hours,  then  transferred  to  a  can  with  a  tight 
(but  probably  not  air-tight)  lid  in  which  it  remained  till  the  working 
samples  were  withdrawn.  These  were  all  taken  at  the  same  time 
each  consisting  of  6  Gms.  weighed  on  balanced  watch  glasses. 
Those  which  were  not  to  be  immediately  analyzed  to  establish  the 
morphine  content  of  the  material  before  heat  treatment  were  placed 
in  a  Frea's  electric  oven  (at  atmospheric  pressure)  heated  at  98°- 
100°.  These  heated  samples  were  re-weighed  at  intervals  and  at 
predetermined  times  samples  were  withdrawn  from  further  heating, 
the  morphine  content  then  being  determined  by  the  method  already 
mentioned.  Two  batches  of  opium  were  experimented  upon,  one 
being  of  Persian  the  other  of  Indian  origin.  The  results  are  tabu- 
lated below. 
^  Loc.  cit. 
2  Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.,  90:  851,  1918. 
^  Debourdeaux,  Bull.  Sci.  Pharm.,  17:  382,  1910. 
