Am'l^;m^m'}  Assaying  Galenical  Preparations  of  Opium.  409 
opium  assaying,  may  obtain  differences  amounting  to  0-4,0-5  or  o-6 
per  cent. 
If  Fluckiger's  recent  process  be  somewhat  modified  and  consci- 
entiously followed,  I  think  it  is  destined  to  supersede  the  methods  of 
the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia,  Wainwright,  Squibb,  Stillwell,  Cornwall, 
Dieterich,  and  of  Pergers.  The  following  embodies  directions  for 
thus  modifying  Fluckiger's  process  for  practical  analytical  work, 
and  is  used  in  the  determinations  given  below : 
Dry  10  gm.  crude  opium  in  a  porcelain  dish,  at  100°  C,  for  three' 
hours,  transfer  to  a  dry  mortar  and  pulverize.  Put  the  powder,  • 
guarding  against  loss,  into  a  filter  of  2  inches  diameter,  pour  slowly 
over  the  powder  a  mixture  of  10  cc.  ether  and  10  cc.  chloroform, 
cover  well,  and  after  the  liquid  has  drained  off,  add  10  cc.  chloro- 
form. Drain  the  liquid,  spread  out  the  filter  and  dry  its  contents ;. 
then  carefully  transfer  the  washed  and  dried  opium  powder  to  a  vial 
holding  about  120  cc,  [4  ounces];  add  100  cc.  water;  cork  and  fre- 
quently shake  the  vial  during  two  hours.  Now  filter  off  50  cc.  into- 
a  small  salt-mouth  bottle,  which  is  not  as  liable  to  break  as  an 
Erlenmeyer  flask.  Shake  with  a  mixture  of  10  cc.  alcohol,  of  94 
per  cent.,  20  cc.  pure  ether,  and  1  cc.  ammonia  water,  of  10  per 
cent.,  for  six  hours.*  Collect  the  morphine  on  a  tared  filter,  wash 
with  as  little  cold  water  as  possible,  or  with  a  saturated  solution  of 
morphine,  press  the  filter  between  blotting  paper,  afterwards  dry  at 
ioo°  to  constant  weight,  and  weigh  between  watch  glasses.  The 
weight  multiplied  by  20  gives  the  percentage  of  pure  morphine. 
Squibb's  manner  ot  removing  the  ether  from  the  morphine  is  an 
improvement  on  Fluckiger's  method.  If  this  be  done  by  means  of 
filtering  paper,  care  must  be  taken  that  fine  crystals  are  not  taken  up 
by  capillary  attraction  ;  or  the  ether  may  be  diluted  with  fresh  ether, 
and  removed  with  a  pipette,  which  is  more  satisfactory  than  decant- 
ing the  ethereal  liquid  from  a  salt-mouth  bottle.  This  manipulation 
has  the  advantage  of  preventing  the  formation  of  a  resinous  layer 
of  narcotine  along  the  edge  of  the  filter  during  the  filtration. 
*  Dieterich 's  unfavorable  results  are  unfairly  obtained.  He  exhibits  in  the 
Helfenberger  Annalen,  for  1889,  a  brilliant  array  of  54  comparative  assays, 
of  which  not  a  single  one  is  made  according  to  Fliickiger.  The  interested 
reader  is  referred  to  said  Aii?ialen,  pages  94-96. 
