50 
ON  AMERICAN  OPIUM. 
be  made  to  measure  100  parts,  by  the  addition  of  sufficient 
water.  Thus,  if  30  parts  of  acid  were  necessary  to  saturate  100 
parts  of  the  ammoniacal  solution,  then  to  every  30  parts  of 
acid  add  70  parts  of  water,  and  the  solution  is  ready  for  use. 
The  solutions  keep  well,  and  it  is  only  necessary  to  mix  them 
in  equal  quantities  to  produce  an  effervescent  draught  of  neu- 
tral acetate  of  ammonia,  retaining  the  free  carbonic  acid  so  de- 
sirable as  a  remedial  agent. — Proc.  Amer.  Pharm.  Assoc.,  1866. 
ON  AMERICAN  OPIUM. 
By  Israel  J.  Grahame. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  Association  last  year,  (1865),  specimens 
of  "  Virginia  Opium  "  were  presented  for  examination  by  W. 
II.  Schieffelin  &  Co.,  of  New  York.  At  the  request  of  the  Asso- 
ciation I  accepted  these  specimens  for  the  purpose  of  a  morphio- 
metrical  analysis,  as  upon  the  proportion  of  opium's  most  im- 
portant alkaloid — morphia — that  any  specimen  shall  contain, 
should  the  medicinal  value  of  the  drug  alone  be  estimated.  The 
quantity  of  this,  therefore,  together  with  that  of  narcotina,  have 
been  the  principal  objects  of  my  investigations. 
Before  proceeding  with  a  statement  of  my  experiments,  I 
would  remark  that  these  specimens  of  opium,  one  made  in  1864 
and  the  other  in  1865,  were  manufactured  by  Powhatan  Robert- 
son, Campbell  Co.,  Virginia,  from  the  capsules  of  several 
varieties  of  poppies  grown  by  himself,  as  will  be  seen  from  the 
following  extracts  from  a  letter  on  the  subject  received  from  him 
by  W.  H.  Schieffelin  &  Co. : 
"  The  Virginia  Opium  was  made  from  poppies  of  almost  every 
variety — the  single  variety,  however,  with  purple  spots  on  the 
petals,  predominating.  This  variety  of  poppy  seems  to  yield 
more  opium  than  the  double,  and  its  seed  capsules  are  of  a  shape 
that  makes  the  collection  of  the  opium  less  troublesome." 
"  The  capsules  should  be  incised  longitudinally  about  three  or 
four  days  after  the  flower  has  dropped.  The  incisions  may  be 
repeated. several  times  on  the  same  capsule;  they  should  be  made 
in  the.  evening  and  the  opium  scraped  off  next  morning. 
There  was  no  bad  effect  observed  by  the  person  who  collected 
