124 
ASSAY  OF  A  PURE  OPIUM. 
iodine;  its  behaviour  is  similar  to  that  of  oil  of  peppermint,  and 
the  admixture  cannot  therefore  be  detected  by  iodine.  A  relia- 
ble test  for  the  presence  of  this  adulteration  is  requisite ;  when 
discovered,  the  mint  growers  will  probably  find  it  to  pay  better 
to  prepare  pure  oils  of  erigeron  and  of  peppermint,  and  the  latter 
properly  rectified  will  then  undoubtedly  come  nearer  to  the  finer 
European  oils,  and  yield  a  better  profit  to  the  maker.  On  the 
other  hand,  there  is  no  good  reason  why  oil  of  erigeron  should 
not  be  much  lower  in  price  than  it  is  at  present,  if  it  should  come 
into  more  extended  use  as  a  medicinal  agent,  the  plant  not  re- 
quiring cultivation  and  yielding  fully  as  much  oil  as  peppermint. 
It  may  be  mentioned  incidentally,  that  Erigeron  Canadense 
is  one  of  those  North  American  weeds  which  has  spread  over  a 
considerable  part  of  the  civilized  world. 
ASSAY  OF  A  PURE  AMERICAN  OPIUM, 
From  Poppies  grown  at  Hancock,  Vermont,  by  Mr.  C.  M.  Robbins. 
By  William  Procter,  Jr. 
On  the  18th  of  January  the  writer  received  a  sample  of  about 
an  ounce  of  opium  from  Messrs.  Rosengarten  &  Sons,  with  the 
information  (in  the  form  of  a  copy  of  a  letter  from  Messrs.  Howe 
&  French,  of  Boston,  Mass.)  that  it  was  received  from  Mr. 
C.  M.  Robbins,  of  Hancock,  Vermont,  who  raised  the  pop- 
pies producing  it  from  foreign  seed,  which  had  cost  ten  dollars 
per  ounce.  The  opium  was  obtained  by  scarifying  the  capsules 
in  the  manner  it  is  done  abroad,  and  the  exuded  juice  collected 
and  dried  in  the  sun,  when  it  turns  dark  colored.  No  leaves, 
or  capsules  or  other  foreign  substance  is  admixed,  but  its  con- 
sistence is  that  of  an  extract  rather  soft  than  firm,  but  the  soft- 
ness does  not  appear  to  be  due  so  much  to  moisture  as  to  its  caout- 
choucoid  character,  as  after  long  drying  it  lost  but  five  per  cent, 
of  its  weight,  and  broke  with  a  short,  shining  fracture  when  quite 
cold.  The  entire  crop  of  this  experiment  was  11  ounces,  and 
in  its  odor  and  taste  closely  resembles  good  Turkey  opium.  In 
a  letter  from  Mr.  Robbins,  since  shown  to  me  by  Messrs  Rosen- 
garten  &  Sons,  he  sa,ys,  "  I  planted  about  15  square  rods  of 
land  [about  one-tenth  of  an  acre]  in  poppies,  rows  two  feet 
