420  The  International  Exposition,  {Amsep°tu,r'i87h6arm: 
^spoiling,  and  the  cakes  are  finally  packed  in  boxes  divided  into  40  compartments, 
each  of  which  receives  one  ball,  in  which  state  it  is  exported,  principally  to  China. 
The  opium  used  in  the  East  Indies  is  prepared  differently,  the  juice  being  evapo- 
rated in  the  sun,  when  it  is  formed  into  square  or  round  cakes ;  the  Behar  opium  on 
exhibition  is  of  this  kind. 
Although  the  cultivation  of  the  poppy  for  opium  has  been  repeatedly  prohibited 
"in  China  ("Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1869,  p.  477),  and  the  prohibitory  decree  has  never 
been  repealed,  it  appears  to  have  steadily  increased,  being  carried  on  under  the 
•eyes,  if  not  with  the  full  knowledge  of  the  authorities.  There  are  two  varieties  of 
''Chinese  opium,  coming  from  two  ports.  The  sample  which  represents  the  opium 
met  with  at  the  northern  port  of  Newchwang,  is  a  cake  of  about  the  size  of  a  fist, 
somewhat  flattish  globular  in  shape,  rather  firm  in  consistence,  light-brown  in  color, 
-and  of  a  good  opium  odor.  The  cake  is  wrapped  in  thin,  white  paper  and  is 
.greasy,  perhaps  rather  less  than  the  Persian  opium  which  it  closely  resembles.  It 
&as  the  appearance  of  being  dried  without  the  aid  of  artificial  heat. 
The  second  variety  comes  from  the  port  of  Hankow,  and  consists  of  pieces  of  a 
largeT  cake,  which  apparently  was  originally  nearly  spherical,  or  perhaps,  cylindri. 
cal,  is  wrapped  in  white  paper,  and  shows  on  the  outside  remnants  of  vegetable 
tissue,  but  no  impressions  or  remnants  of  leafvenation  5  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its 
foeing  identical  with  the  Hankow  opium  described  by  Dr.  R.  A.  Jamieson  a  few 
years  ago  (see  "  Pharmacographia,"  p.  51).  It  is  firm  externally,  and  of  a  dirty* 
yellowish  color  from  the  adhering  tissue,  internally  of  a  deep  black-brown,  quite 
soft,  and  of  a  good  opium  odor.  Having  an  extract-like  appearance,  it  is  not  un- 
likely that  heat  is  employed  in  evaporating  the  milk  juice,  but  no  empyrematic 
-odor  is  observable. 
The  poppy  cultivated  in  China  is  not  exhibited,  but  it  is  not  too  much  to  assume 
*that  it  is  the  same  variety  which  is  employed  in  India  and  also  in  Japan,  namely 
the  white,  and  that  the  capsule  is  incised  longitudinally.    Chinese  opium  is  reported 
i  to  be  infeiior  to  the  Indian  5  but  we  are  not  aware  of  any  comparative  assays. 
Japan  has  also  sent  opium  as  the  produce  of  her  soil.  The  scarified  poppy  cap- 
sules, which  are  likewise  on  exhibition,  show  that  the  white  poppy  is  here  cultivated 
for  this  purpose  5  they  differ  from  the  white  capsules  as  ordinarily  seen  in  being 
marrow  oblong  in  shape.  Several  incisions  are  made  vertically,  and  the  opium, 
which  is  in  thin,  flattened  cakes  wrapped  in  paper,  is  of  a  dark-brown  color,  but  of 
good  quality  as  far  as  odor  and  taste  are  concerned.  We  could  get  no  information 
regarding  the  extent  of  cultivation,  nor  do  we  know  of  a  morphiometric  assay  of 
.this  product. 
With  the  above,  the  varieties  of  opium,  which  are  important  either  for  home  con- 
sumption or  in  a  commercial  aspect,  have  been  all  enumerated;  but  several  samples 
:are  likewise  on  exhibition  which  prove  that  a  good  medicinal  opium  can' be  ob- 
tained also  in  other  countries.  The  sample  of  opium  which  was  raised  in  Victoria 
and  sent  by  Mr.  Joseph  Bosisto,  was  unfortunately  lost  on  the  voyage;  according 
to  his  statement,  it  contained  10  per  cent,  of  morphia,  a  sample  of  which,  made 
from  the  former,  has  reached  here.  The  poppy  capsules  have  likewise  been  lost,  so 
that  we  have  no  information  as  to  the  variety  cultivated  or  the  manner  in  which  the 
capsule  was  treated. 
