ON  THE  PRODUCTION    OF  OPIUM  IN  ASIA  MINOR. 
255 
By  constant  practice,  he  can  usually  tell  by  the  weight  if  the 
opium  is  pure,  but  any  suspected  piece  is  immediately  cut  open, 
and  if  bad  thrown  aside  as  Chicantee  ;  sometimes  Chicantee  is 
thrust  in  between  two  pieces  of  good  opium,  and  it  is  then  cut 
out  and  thrown  aside :  about  ten  minutes  are  required  for  the  ex- 
amination of  each  basket. 
The*  strength  and  quality  of  opium  are  reckoned  in  carats,  like 
gold,  24  carats  constituting  pure  opium ;  but  according  to  cus- 
tom, the  examiner  must  pass  as  pure  any  which  reaches  20  carats  ; 
all  below  that  standard  is  thrown  out  as  Chicantee.  In  purchasing 
opium,  therefore,  a  difference  of  20  per  cent,  may  exist  between 
the  value  of  one  basket  and  another,  unless  a  previous  examina- 
tion be  stipulated  for  on  effecting  a  purchase.  This  condition 
is,  however,  seldom  exacted  when  opium  is  intended  for  re-sale, 
as  no  difference  of  price  is  made  in  any  European  market  for  a 
difference  of  quality  to  this  extent. 
After  the  opium  is  examined,  the  tare  is  taken,  including  the 
chaffy  seeds  with-  which  it  was  packed  ;  these  seeds,  which  are 
those  of  a  species  of  Rumex  called  Afion  Oto,  or  opium  weed, 
are  afterwards  returned  to  the  buyer  to  pack  his  cases.  The 
cases  are  made  large  enough  for  the  contents  of  one  basket  each, 
excepting  those  intended  for  China,  which  are  two-thirds  of  the 
size,  to  facilitate  their  carriage  across  the  desert  to  Suez. 
I  have  observed  that  in  London  a  distinction  is  made  between 
Constantinople  and  Smyrna  opium.  No  real  difference  exists. 
Some  of  the  upper  opium  districts  being  at  equal  distances  from 
Smyrna  and  the  capital,  the  merchants  who  purchase  in  the  in- 
terior send  their  opium  to  either  city  for  sale.  As  Smyrna 
offers  more  advantages  for  smuggling,  no  opium  has  been  sent  to 
Constantinople  for  the  last  two  years. 
I  observed,  also  that  Landerer  discovered  salep  powder  mixed 
with  opium  shipped  from  Smyrna.  Although  I  have  no  right  to 
contradict  so  good  an  authority,  I  would  suggest  that  the  sub- 
stance so  discovered  may  have  been  common  gum  tragacanth, 
which  is  frequently  used  by  the  Jews  in  Smyrna,  in  the  adultera- 
tion of  opium  ;  in  fact,  it  is  the  principal  substance  they  employ, 
and  is  cheaper  than  salep,  and  more  easily  procured.  They 
make  no  secret  of  their  method  of  adulterating,  but  they  deny 
using  salep,  which,  according  to  them,  would  be  too  expensive, 
