ASSAY  OF  A  PURE  OPIUM. 
125 
apart,  hills  one  foot  apart.  It  was  in  growth  from  June  1st  to 
October  1st.  The  heads  were  punctured  only  once  a  day,  in 
the  afternoon  ;  we  cut  several  small  gashes  in  the  sides,  being 
careful  not  to  cut  through  the  inside.  The  opium  was  scraped 
off  the  next  morning  and  dried  on  plates  in  the  sun.  In  my 
opinion  we  did  not  get  over  half  the  opium  that  might  have  been 
obtained.  The  poppy  seed  was  not  planted  early  enough  by 
two  or  three  weeks.  The  poppy  grows  well  and  seems  hearty, 
and  requires  dry  soil." 
One  hundred  grains  of  this  opium  was  rubbed  with  water  in 
a  mortar  until  the  whole  was  emulsionized.  After  standing 
several  hours  with  occasional  agitation  it  was  thrown  on  a  tared 
filter,  and  after  draining,  the  dregs  were  well  washed  with  water, 
dried,  and  weighed  33  grains.  The  liquid  thus  obtained  was 
carefully  evaporated,  at  a  moderate  heat,  to  six  fluidrachms, 
mixed  with  its  bulk  of  alcohol  and  filtered ;  30  grains  of  aqua 
ammoniae,  sp.  gr.  960,  mixed  with  three  times  its  bulk  of  alcohol 
was  slowly  added  with  constant  stirring  until  a  decided  excess 
was  obtained,  well  stirred,  and  allowed  to  stand  24  hours.  The 
ammonia  caused  an  immediate  granular  precipitate,  which  in- 
creased on  standing.  At  the  end  of  the  period  mentioned,  it 
was  collected  on  a  tared  filter,  thoroughly  washed  with  cold 
water  and  dried.  The  precipitate  was  of  a  uniform  light  drab 
color,  and  weighed  18*2  grains.  It  was  now  boiled  in  repeated 
portions  of  ether,  washed  on  a  filter  with  that  liquid  and  then 
dried,  when  it  weighed  16*25  grs.  This  substance  has  the  prop- 
erties of  morphia,  being. reddened  by  nitric  acid,  blued  by  ses- 
quichloride  of  iron,  but  is  colored.  It  was  therefore  dissolved 
in  repeated  portions  of  boiling  alcohol,  the  solution  filtered  and 
evaporated  and  crystallized.  The  filter  was  well  washed,  and, 
on  drying,  the  brown  matter  weighed  0*5  gr.,  making  the  yield 
of  crystallized  morphia  15*75  grs. 
The  ethereal  washings  of  the  morphia  precipitate  yielded 
nearly  2  grains  of  crystalline  matter,  which  formed  a  clear  yel- 
low solution  with  nitric  acid,  consisting  chiefly  of  narcotina, 
with  a  little  brownish  amorphous  matter  around  the  edge  of  the 
dish. 
The  liquid  from  which  the  morphia  precipitated  was  found  to 
