198 
NOTE UPON INDIA OPIUM. 
varying in quantities from twenty seers to a mannd. The 
examining officer into each jar thrusts his examining rod, 
which consists of a slit bamboo, and by experience he can 
so judge of the qualities of the specimens before him, which 
are assorted into lots of No. 1 to No. 4 quality. Opium of 
the first quality is of a fine chesnut color, aromatic smell 
and dense consistence. It is moderately ductile, and when 
the mass is torn, breaks with a deeply notched fracture, with 
sharp needle-like fibres, translucent and ruby-red at the 
edges. It is readily broken down under water, and the 
solution at first filters of a sherry color, which darkens as 
the process proceeds. One hundred grains of this yield an 
extract to cold distilled water of from 35 to 45, and at the 
temperature of 212°, leave from 20 to 28 per cent , having 
a consistence of SO to 72, the consistence of the factory." 
"The second quality is inferior to the first, and the third 
quality is possessed of the following properties: Black, pasty, 
of a very heavy smell, drops from the examining rod, gives 
off from 40 to 50 per cent, of moisture, and contains a large 
quantity of " Pasewa y 9 while the fourth or last number 
embraces all the kinds which are too bad to be used in the 
composition of the bails, comprising specimens of all 
varieties of color and consistence. This number is moistened 
with water, and only used as paste to cement the covering 
of the balls. The three first qualities are emptied from their 
jars into large tanks, in which they are kept until the supply 
of the season has been obtained. The opium is then re- 
moved and exposed to the air on shallow wooden frames, 
until it becomes of the consistency of from 69 to 70, when 
it is given to the cake maker, who guesses to a drachm the 
exact weight, and envelops the opium in its covering of 
petals, cemented by a covering of quality No. 4. The balls 
are then weighed, and stored, to undergo a thorough ventib 
lation and drying. Formerly the covering of the balls was 
composed of the leaves of tobacco ; but the late Mr. Flem- 
ming introduced the practice of using the petals of the poppy, 
