462 
Persian  Opium. 
.\in.  Jour.  Pharin. 
Sept.,  1880. 
is  passed  the  lower  end  of  the  condenser.  The  alcohol  in  the  flask  is 
then  heated  to  boiling,  and  maintained  at  that  temperature,  until  the 
prolonged  percolation  of  the  condensed  alcohol  through  the  spice  has 
removed  all  soluble  matters,  and  the  filtrate  is  colorless.  The  filter, 
with  its  contents,  is  then  partially  dried  at  ioo°C.,  the  contents  removed 
to  a  weighed  porcelain  dish,  thoroughly  dried  at  lOoC,  and  again 
weighed.  The  volatile  character  of  many  of  the  extractive  substances 
(essential  oils,  etc.)  renders  it  impossible  to  estimate  the  residue  from 
the  evaporation  of  the  alcohol.  Proceeding  by  the  foregoing  method, 
the  author  has  obtained  the  following  percentages  of  extract  from  pure 
spices  : 
Cloves,  33*50 
Cassia  bark,       .....  26*60 
Cinnamon  (Ceylon),  .              .              .              .              .  23*90 
Caraway  seed,     .....  33*87 
Fennel       "             .              .              ...  38*20 
Black  pepper,     .....  19*87 
Long       *'               .....  37*00 
White                .              .              .              .              .  16*87 
Ked         "               .....  18*13 
Coriander  seed,  .              .              .              ,              .  14*88 
Star  anise,  ......  25*68 
Anise  seed,         .....  36*24 
Clove  pepper,             .....  22*68 
Mace,         ......  37*6o 
Nutmegs,           .....  32*70 
PERSIAN  OPIUM. 
The  following  memorandum  on  the  opium  of  Persia  is  taken  from  a 
report  on  the  trade  of  the  Persian  Gulf  by  Consul-General  Ross: 
From  the  time  the  attention  of  the  native  merchants  was  attracted 
to  the  trade  in  this  article,  about  twenty-five  years  ago,  there  has  been, 
with  two  or  three  exceptions,  a  gradual  annual  increase  in  the  produc- 
tion of  the  drug.     But  this  increase  has  never  before  been  so  very  con 
siderable  as  to  become  prominently  noticeable. 
It  was  reported  in  1859  ^^^^  about  3,000  '^shah  mans,"  or  300  cases, 
of  opium  were  produced  in  Persia;  and  in  1861  that  about  10, 000 
''shah  mans,"  or  1,000  cases,  were  expected  to  yield  from  the  crops 
of  the  year  a  quantity  which  was  then  noticed  to  be  double  the  out- 
turn of  the  previous  year. 
