Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  j 
December,  1919.  ' 
Opium  in  China. 
779 
largest  possible  number  of  human  beings.  Under  their  family  sys- 
tem that  tempts  them  to  multiply  without  regard  to  prospects,  they 
have  pruned  away  much  which  lends  value  to  life.  Another  cause 
is  poverty.  They  often  have  so  little  food  that  any  drug  which  re- 
moves first  the  pangs  of  hunger,  and  later  the  healthy  cravings  of 
appetite,  seems  a  boon  to  them.  In  addition  to  this  there  is  the 
feeling  of  peace  and  well-being  that  often  accompanies  the  smoking 
of  opium  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  why  the  indigent  Chinese  use 
it.  It  is  for  the  same  reason  that  the  Western  people  administer 
morphine  to  relieve  pain  and  weariness.  The  effect  desired  by  the 
opium  smoker  is  not  that  of  slumber  filled  with  fascinating  dreams, 
but  a  condition  of  dreamy  wakefulness  in  which  the  mind  is  lifted 
out  of  the  petty  annoyances  and  cares  of  life. 
The  prepared  drug  is  called  "  Yen-kao "  (smoke-extract)  or 
"Shu-yen"  (boiled-smoke),  and  is  prepared  by  mixing  the  ashes 
from  opium  pipes  with  the  raw  opium,  which  facilitates  the  making 
of  the  infusion.  This  is  further  filtered  and  evaporated  to  the  con- 
sistence of  a  thin  extract,  which  is  combustible  in  the  opium-pipe 
wdien  held  in  the  flame  of  a  small  oil  lamp.  The  opium  is  smoked 
from  this  special  pipe,  the  stem  of  which  is  usually  from  20  to  24 
inches  long,  generally  made  of  bamboo,  at  the  lower  third  of  which 
there  is  placed  a  bowl,  usually  of  red  clay,  through  which  a  minute 
hole  runs  down  into  the  stem.  The  extract  is  usually  made  by  the 
keepers  of  the  opium-dens,  but  rich  people  usually  make  their  own 
extract. 
The  amount  smoked  varies  with  various  smokers.  Kane  gives 
the  tabulated  statement  of  the  daily  dose  of  1,000  smokers;  646 
varied  between  16  and  128  grains  ;  250  from  160  to  320  grains;  104 
from  480  to  1,600  grains.  To  obtain  the  desired  effect  5  grains 
seem  sufficient  for  a  novice,  while  old  smokers  need  as  high  as  290 
grains.  Among  Americans  this  vice  is  of  relatively  recent  origin 
and  the  average  American  seems  to  consume  more  than  the  average 
Chinese  to  obtain  the  desired  effect. 
The  addiction  to  this  habit  varies  somewhat  with  different  indi- 
viduals, and  it  seems  that  it  depends  a  great  deal  upon  the  idiosyn- 
crasy of  the  individual.  However,  after  one  has  smoked  a  few 
times  the  habit  becomes  established.  As  a  result  of  this,  there  is 
physical  and  moral  deterioration,  insomnia  develops,  sexual  degen- 
eracy supervenes,  and  there  is  lack  of  moral  control.  Some  had 
smoked  to  the  extent  that  they  had  Po-chia-shang-shen  ("broken 
