S54 
Granulated  Opium. 
j  Ana.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\  November,  1895. 
even  heavier  than  it  is.  Hence,  the  supposition  that  they  contain  a 
common  constituent  is  not  fraught  with  much  semblance  of  prob- 
ability. We  know  that  Professor  Ramsay,  Lord  Rayleigh  and  many 
others  are  working  at  this  most  marvellously  complicated  array  of 
phenomena  presented  by  argon  and  helium,  and,  until  more  facts 
are  forthcoming,  it  is  useless  to  speculate  what  helium  and  argon 
are.  Veritas  vos  liber abit. 
Baltimore,  October  7,  1895. 
GRANULATED  OPIUM.  ^ 
By  Lyman  F.  Kebi^er  and  Charles  H.  LaWau,. 
"  We  recommend  that  granulated  opium  be  used  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  tincture  and  deodorized  tincture  of  opium  and  that  the  use 
of  precipitated  phosphate  of  calcium  be  omitted  in  their  prepara- 
tion." 
The  preceding  remark  is  taken  from  the  u  Report  of  Committee 
on  Revision  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia,"  submitted  to  the  Ameri- 
can Pharmaceutical  Association  at  their  Denver  meeting  in  August. 
Granulated  opium  has  been  an  article  of  commerce  for  some  few 
years  past,  although  it  never  attracted  the  attention  it  deserves. 
The  limited  number  who  have  become  familiar  with  its  use  and  ad- 
vantages speak  in  the  highest  terms  of  its  superiority  over  all  other 
forms  of  the  drug  for  quickly  and  easily  manufacturing  the  various 
galenical  preparations  in  which  opium  is  the  primary  ingredient. 
The  percolation  of  finely  powdered  opium  alone,  which  was 
authorized  by  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  1880,  and  which  was  found  to 
be  impracticable,  was  supplemented  in  the  last  revision  of  the  same 
work  by  the  addition  of  50  per  cent,  of  precipitated  calcium  phos- 
phate. This  addition  is  a  questionable  improvement  over  the  former 
process,  leaving  much  to  be  desired  in  both  elegance  and  expedi- 
tion. The  U.  S.  Dispensatory,  17th  edition  (p.  1390),  refers  to  the 
subject  as  follows  :  "  Precipitated  calcium  phosphate  has  been  added, 
and  finely  powdered  opium  directed  in  the  U.  S.  P.  1890  process,  be- 
cause much  trouble  seems  to  have  been  experienced  in  procuring  at 
all  times  in  the  market  the  coarsely  powdered  opium  which  was  the 
only  kind  suitable  for  use  in  the  U.  S.  P.  1880  process." 
The  coarsely  powdered  opium,  or  granulated  opium,  as  it  is 
usually  termed,  is  now  easily  obtainable  and,  as  its  use  is  constantly 
