46 
Recent  Researches  in  Botany. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
•Jan.,  1888. 
scarification.  Two  horizontal  incisions  are  made,  extendino^  across 
one-lialf  of  the  circumference.  This  is  done  in  the  evening,  and  the 
thin,  milky  juice  (opium)  that  exudes  during  the  night  is  scraped  off 
early  on  the  following  morning,  so  as  to  finish  gathering  before  the 
opium  becomes  hardened  by  the  sun.  Cold,  showery  weather  is  much 
against  the  grower,  as  the  exuding  juice,  being  thin,  is  easily  washed 
off.  Hot  days  and  heavy  dews  at  night  increase  the  flow,  and  im- 
prove the  consistency  of  the  product.  Two  days  after  the  first  scari- 
fication the  capsule  is  ready  for  incisions  to  be  made  on  the  opposite 
side.  This  is  sometimes  repeated  till  the  capsule  is  thoroughlv  ex- 
hausted. The  opium,  when  gathered,  is  made  into  balls  from  about 
half  a  pound  to  a  pound  in  weight.  These  are  dried  in  the  shade,  care 
being  taken  to  turn  them  every  second  day  to  prevent  mould,  the 
length  of  time  between  the  tiumiugs  being  increased  as  the  opium 
hardens. 
A  sample  of  that  collected  last  season  at  Bacchus  Marsh,  as.saved 
in  accordance  with  the  British  Pharrnacopceia,  yielded  11.5  per  cent, 
of  morphine  in  the  dry  powdered  opium.  A  small  sample  from 
Queensland  gave  9'8  per  cent,  of  morphine  by  the  same  process.  An 
analysis  of  the  Bacchus  Marsh  opium  gave  the  following  results  : — 
morphine,  10"65;  codeia,  .55  :  uarcotina,  G*48;  narceine,  6T1 ;  gummy 
matter,  26"70  ;  mucus,  21*62;  resin  and  oily  matters,  6*80;  water, 
9-19;  undetermined  and  loss,  11-90;  total,  lOO'OO.  A  batch  of  ex- 
tractum  opii,  prepared  from  one  pound  of  colonial  opium,  yielded  a 
product  of  9'3  ounces  of  a  good  extract  of  full  alkaloidal  strength. — 
Austral.  Jour.  Pharm.,  Xov.,  1887,  p.  393. 
EECEXT  EESEARCHES  IX  BOTAXY.^ 
By  E.  G.  Bakee,  F.L.S. 
T'ae  state  of  botanical  research  in  this  cjuotry  at  the  present  time  is  in  a 
decidedly  encouraging  condition.  For  a  long  time  English  botanists  have 
taken  a  leading  part  in  systematic  botany  ;  but  in  histological  and  physio- 
logical botany  there  lias  been  a  great  lack  of  original  work.  Xow  it  seems 
likely  that  this  will  be  changed.  A  new  school  has  arisen,  and  at  the  lead- 
ing universities  a  regular  coarse  of  practical  work  is  annually  given.  Some 
^  Read  at  a  meeting  of  the  Chemists'  Assistants'  Association,  October  20.  Ee- 
printed  from  Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  Xovember  5,  1887. 
