Water. 
Morphia. 
9-84  p.  C. 
8-94  p.  c. 
5-80  " 
7-56  - 
7-26  " 
10*92  " 
9.77  " 
12-53  « 
_____  << 
9-25  - 
8-17  " 
9-84  " 
^'^-il^'-I^^""''- [Contributions  from  the  School  of  Pharmacy,  etc.  461 
opium  was  weighed  in  the  condition  purchased,  and  the  per  cent,  of 
morphia  calculated  on  that  weight.  The  per  cent,  of  water  was  ascer- 
tained by  drying  the  powder,  in  a  steam  oven,  to  a  constant  weight. 
The  samples  were  more  or  less  air-dried  when  obtained. 
No.  I,  . 
"2,  
"   3,  . 
"4,  
"5,  
Average,    .  .  ,  .  . 
No.  5  was  assayed  again  by  Hager  and  facohsen's  process.'^ 
This  process  may  be  described  as  follows  :  Triturate  6J  grams  of 
opium  with  3  grams  of  dry  calcium  hydrate  and  enough  water  to  form 
a  soft  mass,  and  rinse  into  a  weighed  flask,  adding  water  enough  to 
make  the  mixture  weigh  74J  grams.  Cork,  digest  on  the  water-bath 
for  one  hour,  cool  and  replace  water  to  restore  the  weight  to  74J  grms. 
Filter  50  cub.  cent,  into  a  large  test-tube  previously  marked  to  that 
measure  ;  add  to  this  filtrate  8  drops  of  benzole  and  3  cub.  cent,  of 
ether ;  cork  and  shake,  and  then  add  \\  grams  of  powdered  ammo- 
nium chloride,  and  agitate  till  dissolved.  After  three  or  four  hours, 
filter  out  all  the  crystals  upon  a  weighed  filter ;  dry  and  wash  with  a 
little  chloroform  (Hager  prefers  non-alcoholic  ether);  then  dry  and 
weigh  as  alkaloid  from  5  grams  opium.  In  this  examination  of  No.  5, 
Staples'  process  gave  9*25  p.  c.  morphia  ; 
Hager- Jacobsen's  process  gave  9*89  p.  c.  morphia. 
The  process  recommended  by  Fluckiger  and  Hanhury\  was  tried.  This 
process  differs  from  Staples'  chiefly  in  the  particulars  that  the  opium 
powder,  with  pumace,  is  exhausted  with  boiling  ether  ;  the  solution  to 
be  treated  with  ammonia  is  but  very  slightly  alcoholic  (and  is  slightly 
acid),  and  the  crude  crystals  are  purified  by  recrystallization  from  alco- 
hol of  sp.  gr.  0*822  at  least  once.    No.  i,  by 
Staples'  procsss  gave  8*94  p.  c.  morphia  ; 
Fluckiger  and  Hanbury's  10*34  p.  c.  crude  morphia. 
*  Hager's  "  Untersuchungen,"  ii,  176.  Hoffmann's  "Examination  of  Medicinal 
Chemicals,"  268.  A  modification  of  this  process  is  given  from  Schlosser  in  "Am. 
Jour.  Phar."  1871,  224 
f  "  Pharmacographia,"  59. 
