ASSAY  OF  MORPHIA  IN  OPIUM. 
47 
METHOD  OF  DETERMINING  THE  QUANTITY  OF  MORPHIA  IN 
OPIUM. 
By  M.  Fordos. 
The  determination  of  the  quantity  of  morphia  in  opium  is  a 
subject  of  very  great  interest  in  a  medical  point  of  view.  It  is 
to  the  presence  of  this  alkaloid,  endowed  with  very  energetic 
action  on  the  animal  economy,  that  opium  owes,  if  not  all  its 
properties,  at  least  those  for  which  it  is  chiefly  used  in  medicine. 
The  opiums  which  are  found  in  commerce  have  a  very  variable 
composition,  The  quantity  of  morphine  may  vary  from  nothing 
to  14  per  cent.,  and  even  beyond  that  in  indigenous  opium.  It 
will  therefore  be  seen  what  uncertainty  is  involved  in  the  em- 
ployment of  this  substance,  if  the  proportion  of  morphia  be  not 
determined  previously  to  its  use  in  pharmaceutical  preparations. 
A  great  number  of  processes  for  its  analysis  have  been  published, 
but  they  all  present  practical  difficulties,  which  prevent  our 
always  arriving  at  a  satisfactory  conclusion. 
This  question  has  been  made  the  subject  of  a  prize  by  the 
Belgian  Academy  of  Medicine. 
The  process  which  I  am  about  to  describe  for  ascertaining  the 
quantity  of  morphia,  is  easily  performed,  and  furnishes  results 
which  are  very  accurate. 
Fifteen  grammes  of  the  opium,  cut  in  thin  slices,  are  mace- 
rated in  sixty  grammes  of  water,  occasionally  stirring  the  liquid. 
After  twenty -four  hours  the  product  of  maceration  is  turned  into 
a  mortar,  and  the  opium  thoroughly  disintegrated  with  the  pestle. 
The  whole  is  then  poured  on  a  small  filter,  and,  after  the  liquid 
has  run  through,  the  filter  is  washed  with  fifteen  grammes  of 
water,  which  have  also  served  to  rinse  the  mortar  and  flask  in 
which  the  maceration  was  performed.  The  washings  are  repeated 
a  second  and  third  time  with  ten  grammes  of  water  each  time. 
The  opium  is  then  sufficiently  exhausted.  A  third  part  of  the 
liquid  is  taken  for  determining  the  quantity  of  ammonia  neces- 
sary for  the  precipitation  of  the  morphia.  The  ammonia  is  added 
drop  by  drop,  using  a  graduated  burette,  and  stopping  the  mo- 
ment the  liquid  presents  a  slight  ammoniacal  odor.  The  quantity 
of  ammonia  employed  is  then  noted  down. 
