592 
Note  on  Opium  Poisoning. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharrrt. 
August,  1920 
The  results  of  analysis  were  as  follows:  In  one  case  no  opium 
was  detected,  but  opium  was  found  in  the  viscera  of  another  person 
who  had  been  poisoned  at  the  same  time;  in  four  cases  the  results 
of  analysis  were  consistent  with  the  presence  of  traces  of  opium; 
in  twenty  cases  traces  only  of  opium  were  detected;  in  nine  cases 
opium  was  detected  in  small  quantity;  in  ten  cases  opium  was  de- 
tected in  medium  quantity;  in  nine  cases  opium  was  detected  in 
quantity. 
By  the  term  "small  quantity"  we  mean  that  the  residue  obtained 
from  a  Stas-Otto  extract  gave  color  reactions  about  as  strongly  as 
would  the  Stas-Otto  extract  of  7  Mgm.  of  Indian  opium  of  2  per 
cent,  morphine  content.  The  term  "medium  quantity"  similarly 
corresponds  to  about  15  Mgm.,  and  "detected  in  quantity"  corre- 
sponds to  20  or    more  Mgm. 
Thus  there  was  a  clearly  negative  result  in  one  case.  Out  of  the 
remaining  fifty-two  cases,  in  twenty-four  opium  was  either  detected 
in  traces  or  the  tests  were  responded  to  so  faintly  that  no  definite 
statement  could  be  made  as  to  the  absence  or  presence  of  the  poison. 
That  in  such  a  large  proportion  of  the  case  opium  should  only  be 
detected  in  traces  appears  to  be  in  accord  with  results  obtained  by 
other  observers  (see  Witthaus,  "Manual  of  Toxicology,"  second 
edition,  p.  980). 
The  only  tests  we  have  found  to  be  of  use  in  testing  for  opium  in 
viscera  are  the  following: 
(1)  The  Porphyroxin  Test. — ^We  have  carried  out  this  test  on 
several  thousand  extracts  of  viscera  and  other  substances  without 
ever  getting  a  well-marked  reaction,  except  in  cases  in  which  it  was 
probable,  on  other  grounds,  that  opium  was  present.  On  the  other 
hand,  a  faint  pinkish  color  occurs  not  infrequently  in  the  absence 
of  opium. 
(2)  The  Husemann  Reaction. 
(3)  The  Urotropin  or  Formaldehyde  Reaction. 
This  last-mentioned  test  has  been  used  as  a  colormetric  test  for 
morphine  in  viscera  {Analyst,  42:  227,  1917).  But,  in  our  experi- 
ence, there  are  grounds  for  doubting  whether  either  this  test  or  any 
other  known  to  us  can  be  depended  on  to  give  reliable  colormetric 
result.  The  viscera  are  always  sent  to  us  preserved  in  alcohol. 
In  the  hot  Indian  climate  it  often  happens  that  much  decomposition 
has  set  in  before  the  viscera  are  placed  in  alcohol.  With  such  viscera 
we  find  that  if  an  extract  responds  strongly  to  one  of  the  above  three 
