NEW RESEARCHES ON OPIUM. 
G7 
IV. 
Treatment of the Alcoholic Mother Waters of Morphia. 
After having examined the ammoniacal mother waters of 
morphia, obtained by the process of Sertuerner, I next passed 
to the investigation of the fluid known under the name of al- 
coholic mother waters. 
It is well known, that on the addition of ammonia to a 
watery solution of opium, that a grayish, flocculent precipitate 
takes place if the fluid be cold, and a granulated one when the 
solution is hot; this is impure morphia. Before purifying by 
crystallisation, it is usual to macerate in cold diluted alcohol, 
to free it from the colouring matter. According to the pro- 
cess of M. Robiquet, the magnesian precipitate, containing 
the morphia, is also subjected to a maceration in alcohol; these 
are what I term the alcoholic mother waters; liquids that are 
always neglected, yet they merit attention. 
I took them after they had deposited all the morphia and 
narcotine that would spontaneously separate, saturated them 
with hydrochloric acid, and subjected them to evaporation; 
by this means I obtained a crystalline mass, which afforded 
me much morphia, and some codeine, which I separated by 
ammonia and potash. I shall not dwell on the steps of this 
process, as they have heretofore been explained, and will only 
remark with regard to the codeine, that it is extraordinary to 
discover it in morphia precipitated by ammonia: I have 
often observed, that if the ammonia does not precipitate pure 
codeine from its acid solutions, and particularly from its solu- 
tion in hydrochloric acid, the partial precipitation of a certain 
quantity of it will take place under peculiar circumstances, and 
that it is often carried down with the morphia; I have found 
that ammonia will always precipitate codeine from its solution 
in acetic acid. I may here also mention a substance which 
will be more particularly spoken of hereafter, under the name 
of Paramorphia, a substance I obtained by treating opium 
with lime. This substance, which cannot be confounded with 
codeine on account of its insolubility in potash, accompanies 
the morphia in these mother waters, and is precipitated with 
