528 
WHAT  IS  OPIUM  ? 
By  incineration  10-38  per  cent,  were  burnt  (cellulose),  leaving 
2-39  ash;  the  whole  amount  of  the  ash  in 
the  drug  under  examination  being 
equal  to  5*32  per  cent.,  when  it  was 
directly  burnt. 
100-00 
I  have  observed  that  the  pectic  acid  is  not  obtained  imme- 
diately in  a  pure  state  ;  it  appears  to  be  always  accompanied  by 
some  of  the  so-called  humic  bodies.  Yet  by  dissolving  it  again 
in  ammonia  and  precipitating  by  alcohol,  it  at  last  becomes  near- 
ly colorless  and  devoid  of  inorganic  matter.  It  is  always  very 
difficult  to  powder  ;  when  heated,  it  evolves  acid  vapors?  but  in 
a  less  pure  state  it  retains  some  albuminous  matter  yielding  then 
ammoniacal  vapors. 
The  purified  pectic  acid,  when  thoroughly  boiled  with  water, 
partly  forms  a  jelly,  which  at  first  is  almost  imperceptible,  being 
perfectly  colorless  and  transparent.  Neutral  acetate  of  lead 
somewhat  thickens  it,  without  any  turbid  appearance ;  an  abun- 
dant precipitation  takes  place  only  on  addition  of  ammonia. 
The  properties  of  pectic  matters  are  known  to  be  liable  to 
some  change ;  I  found  that  sometimes  the  pectic  acid  is  not  im- 
mediately separated  from  the  ammoniacal  solution  on  addition  of 
acetic  acid,  but  requires  the  addition  of  alcohol. 
I  was  curious  to  know  whether  pectin  must  be  considered  a 
constituent  of  the  juice  of  the  actual  poppy-head  or  the  capsule 
itself.  An  assay  made  with  nearly  ripe  capsules  showed  that 
they  do  not  contain  any  pectin — at  least  I  could  not  obtain  it  in 
the  same  way  as  I  did  from  opium.  A  very  considerable  pro- 
portion of  pectin,  however,  (22  per  cent.)  has  been  found  in 
poppy  seeds  by  Sacc* 
Mr,  J.  D.  Smith  called  attention  to  a  very  interesting  speci- 
men of  English  opium,  collected  about  twenty  years  since  by 
Sir  Roger  Martin,  at  Burnham  Westgate,  in  Norfolk.  Mr. 
Spencer,  chemist,  had  kindly  sent  this  for  inspection.  It  was  a 
mass  weighing  some  pounds,  and  excited  much  admiration  of  its 
apparently  excellent  quality. — Lond.  Pharm.  Jour.,  Oct.,  1868. 
*   Annales  de  Chimie,  et  de  Physique,  xxvii.  (1850)  473. 
