into shallow vats 10 to 15 ft. across, and 6 to 8 in. deep, in which
the opium is kneaded until uniform in colour and consistence and
tough enough to be formed into cakes of 8 or 10 oz. in weight.
These are thrown into a basket containing chaff made from the
capsules. They are then rolled in broken leaves and stalks of
the poppy and left, with occasional turning, for a week or so,
when they become hard enough to bear packing. In October and
November they are weighed and sent to market, packed in chests
containing as nearly as possible 1 picul＝13313 ℔, the petals and
leaves of the poppy being used as packing materials. The production
is said to amount to about 20,000 chests annually.
The amount of opium revenue collected in India was £10,480,051 in 1881, but in 1907–1908 was only £5,244,986. It is a remarkable fact that the only Indian opium ever seen in England is an occasional sample of the Malwa sort, whilst the government monopoly opium is quite unknown; indeed, the whole of the opium used in medicine in Europe and the United States is obtained from Turkey. This is in some measure due to the fact that Indian opium contains less morphia. It has recently been shown, however, that opium grown in the hilly districts of the Himalayas yields 50% more morphia than that of the plains, and that the deficiency of morphia in the Indian drug is due, in some measure, to the long exposure to the air in a semi-liquid state which it undergoes. In view, therefore, of the probable decline in the Chinese demand, the cultivation of the drug for the European market in the hilly districts of India, and its preparation after the mode adopted in Turkey, viz., by drying the concrete juice as quickly as possible, might be worthy of the consideration of the British government.
Persia.—The variety of poppy grown in Persia appears to be P. somniferum, var. album, having roundish ovate capsules. It is most largely produced in the districts of Ispahan, Shiraz, Yezd and Khonsar, and to a less extent in those of Khorasan, Kermanshah and Pars. The Yezd opium is considered better than that of Ispahan, but the strongest or Theriak-e-Arabistani is produced in the neighbourhood of Diziul and Shuster, east of the river Tigris. Good opium is also produced about Sari and Balfarush in the province of Mazanderan. The capsules are incised vertically, or in some districts vertical cuts with diagonal branches are made. The crop is collected in May and June and reaches the ports for exportation between August and January. Although the cultivation of opium in Persia was probably carried on at an earlier date than in India, Persian opium was almost unknown in England until about the year 1870, except in the form of the inferior quality known as “Trebizond,” which usually contains only 0-2 to 3 "i, of morphia. This opium is in the form of cylindrical sticks about 6 in. long and half an inch in diameter, wrapped in white waxed or red paper. Since 1870 Persian opium has been largely exported from Bushire and Bandar-Abbas in the Persian Gulf to London, the Straits Settlements and China. At that date the annual yield is said not to have exceeded 2600 cases; but, the profits on opium having about that time attracted attention, all available ground was utilized for this to the exclusion of cereals, cotton and other produce. The result was a severe famine in 1871–1872, which was further aggravated by drought and other circumstances. Notwithstanding the lesson thus taught, the cultivation is being extended every year, especially in Ispahan, which abounds in streams and rivers, an advantage in which Yezd is deficient. About Shiraz, Behbehan and Kermanshah it now occupies much of the land, and has consequently affected the price and growth of cereals. The trade—only 300 chests in 1859—gradually increased until 1877, when the Persian opium was much adulterated with glucose. The heavy losses on this inferior opium and the higher prices obtained for the genuine article led to a great improvement in its preparation, and in 1907 the production had increased to 10,000 piculs. About half of the total produce finds its way to the Chinese market, chiefly by sea to Hongkong and the Federated Malay States, although some is carried overland through Bokhara, Khokand and Kashgar; a small quantity is exported by way of Trebizond and Samsun to Constantinople, and about 2000 piculs to Great Britain. The produce of Ispahan and Ears is carried for exportation to Bushire, and that of Khorasan and Kirman and Yezd partly to Bushire and partly to Bandar-Abbas. The Shuster opium is sent partly via Bushire to Muscat for transhipment to Zanzibar, and part is believed to be smuggled into India by way of Baluchistan and Mekran. Smaller quantities grown in Teheran, Tabriz and Kermanshah find their way to Smyrna, where it is said to be mixed with the local drug for the European market, the same practice being carried on at Constantinople with the Persian opium that arrives there from Samsun and Trebizond. For the Chinese market the opium is usually packed in chests containing 1012 shahmans (of 1312 ℔), so that on arrival it may weigh 1 Chinese picul (＝13313 ℔), 5 to 10% being allowed for loss by drying. At Ispahan, Shiraz and Yezd the drug, after being dried in the sun, is mixed with oil in the proportion of 6 or 7 ℔ to 141 ℔ of opium, with the object, it is said, of suiting the taste of the Chinese—that intended for the London market being now always free from oil.
Persian opium, as met with in the London market, occurs in several forms, the most common being that of brick-shaped pieces. These occur wrapped separately in paper, and weighing 1 ℔ each; of these 140-160 are packed in a case. Ispahan opium also occurs in the form of parallelepiped's weighing about 16-20 oz.; sometimes flat circular pieces weighing about 20-oz. are met with. The opium is usually of much firmer and smoother consistence than that of Turkey, of a chocolate-brown colour and cheesy appearance, the pieces bearing evidence of having been beaten into a uniform mass previously to being made into lumps, probably with the addition of Sarcocoll, as it is always harder when dry than Turkey opium. The odour difters but slightly, except in oily specimens, from that of Turkey opium. Great care is now taken to prevent adulteration, and consequently Persian opium can be obtained nearly as rich in morphia as the Turkish drug—on the average from 9-12%. The greater proportion of the Persian opium imported into London is again exported, a comparatively small quantity being used, chiefly for the manufacture of codeine when Turkey opium is dear, and a little in veterinary practice. According to Dr Reveil, Persian opium usually contains 75 to 84% of matter soluble in water, and some samples contain from 13 to 30% of glucose, probably due to an extract or syrup of raisins added to the paste in the pots in which it is collected, and to which the shining fracture of hard Persian opium is attributed.
Europe.—Experiments made in England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, Germany, and even in Sweden, prove that opium as rich in morphia as that of Eastern countries can be produced in Europe. In 1830 Young, a surgeon at Edinburgh, succeeded in obtaining 56 ℔ of opium from an acre of poppies, and sold it at 36s. per ℔. In France the cultivation has been carried on since 1844 at Clermont-Ferrand by Aubergier. The juice, of which a workman is able to collect about 9·64 troy oz. in a day, is evaporated by artificial heat immediately after collection. The juice yields about one-fourth of its weight of opium, and the percentage of morphia varies according to the variety of poppy used, the purple one giving the best results. By mixing assayed samples he is able to produce an opium containing uniformly 10% of morphia. It is made up in cakes of 50 grammes, but is not produced in sufficient quantity to become an article of wholesale commerce. Some specimens of French opium have been found by Guibourt to yield 22·8% of morphia, being the highest percentage observed as yet in any opium. Experiments made in Germany by Karsten, Jobst and Vulpius have shown that it is possible to obtain in that country opium of excellent quality, containing from 8 to 13% of morphia. It was found that the method yielding the best results was to make incisions in the poppy-heads soon after sunrise, to collect the juice with the finger immediately after incision and evaporate it as speedily as possible, the colour of the opium being lighter and the percentage of morphia greater than when the juice was allowed to dry on the plant. Cutting through the poppy-head caused the shrivelling up of the young fruit, but the heads which had been carefully incised yielded more seed than those which had not been cut at all. Newly-manured soil was found to act prejudicially on the poppy. The giant variety of poppy yielded most morphia.
The difficulty of obtaining the requisite amount of cheap labour at the exact time it is needed and the uncertainty of the weather render the cultivation of opium too much a matter of speculation for it ever to become a regular crop in most European countries.
North America.—In 1865 the cultivation of opium was attempted in Virginia by A. Robertson, and a product was obtained which yielded 4% of morphia. In 1867 H. Black grew opium in Tennessee which contained 10% of morphia. Opium produced in California by H. Flint in 1873 yielded 734% of morphia, equal to 10% in perfectly-dried opium. The expense of cultivation exceeded the returns obtained by its sale. As in Europe, therefore, the high price of labour militates against its production on a large scale. (E. M. H.)
Chemistry of the Opium Alkaloids.—The chemical investigation of opium dates from 1803 when C. Derosne isolated a crystalline compound which he named “opium salt.” In 1805 F. W. SertUrner, a German apothecary, independently obtained this same substance, naming it “morphium,” and recognized its basic nature; he also isolated an acid, meconic acid. A second paper, published in 1817, was followed in the same year by the identification of a new base, narcotic, by P. J. Robiquet. Thebaine, another alkaloid, was discovered by Thiboumery in 1835; whilst, in 1848, Merck isolated papaverine from commercial narcotise. Subsequent investigations have revealed some twenty or more alkaloids, the more important of which are given in the following table (from A. Pictet, Vegetable Alkaloids):—
| Morphine | 9·0% | Laudanine | 0·01% |
| Narcotine | 5·0% | Lanthopine | 0·006% |
| Papaverine | 0·8% | Protopine | 0·003% |
| Thebaine | 0·4% | Codamine | 0·002% |
| Codeine | 0·3% | Iritopine | 0·0015% |
| Narceine | 0·2% | Laudanosine | 0·0008 % |
| Cryptopine | 0·08% | Meconine | 0·3% |
| Pseudomorphine | 0·02% |
