Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/662

648 OPIUM the more solid mass is dried in the shade for three or four weeks, with occasional turn- ing. The dead leaves and stalks of the poppy plants are broken up to a coarse powder called trash, which is used in packing. East India opium is in globular cakes about 6 in. in diam- eter, and weighing about 4 Ibs. The ball is made in a hemispherical brass cup, which is first lined with the leaves or petals to the thick- ness of half an inch ; these are pasted together with a mixture called lewa, which is prepared from the pasewa, the washings of the various utensils used to contain opium, some good opi- um and some poor, all boiled down to a semi- fluid paste ; when the leaves for half the ball have been pasted, the ball of opium is placed in the cup, and the other half of it covered with leaves in a similar manner ; the completed ball is then rolled in poppy trash and dried in the sun for three days, and then placed on a frame under cover and turned frequently, until the exterior becomes quite hard, when it is ready to be packed for exportation. Malwa, Patna, and Benares are the principal varieties of India opium, and there are minor ones named from the districts producing them. Although all our supplies of opium are imported from Tur- key, it has been successfully produced in France, England, and the United States ; and some entertain the opinion that the opium poppy can be profitably cultivated in this country both for the sake of the opium and for the seed, from which a fine bland oil can be made after the opium crop has been collected. In Prussia opium has been largely produced and extensively used by morphine makers. In Turkey, prior to 1857, 2,000 baskets were con- sidered a fair crop. In 1869-'70 the crop was 3,150 baskets, and in 1870-'71 over 7,000. Subsequent large crops have been about 8,000 baskets. The consumption keeps pace with this increased production, and better prices are obtained than formerly. In the year end- ing in March, 1872, the export from India was 93,364 chests, of about 160 Ibs. each ; the net revenue to the government from the drug for 187l-'2 was 7,657,213. The amount of opi- um and its extracts imported into the United States in the year ending June 30, 1873, was 319,134 Ibs., valued at $1,978,502. The chem- ical composition of opium is remarkable. The alkaloid morphia, its most valuable constituent, was discovered by Sertiirner, an apothecary at Eimbeck, Hanover, who in 1816 announced the existence of an organic alkali, or alkaloid as it is now termed, in opium, and thus opened the way to the discovery of similar principles in many other vegetables. Before this, Derosne of Paris (1803) had obtained crystals from opi- um which are now known to have been nar- cotine. The United States government does not permit the importation of opium which does not assay 10 per cent, of morphia, from a sample fairly representing an entire package. The lumps of opium vary in the amount of morphia which they contain from 1 to 15 per cent. The amount of moisture in crude opium varies from 5 to 20 per cent. The only practi- cal way of getting a uniform morphia strength in opium is to use it in the form of powder, made by drying and pulverizing a full case con- taining about 100 Ibs., whereby a product hav- ing 10 to 13 per cent, of morphia will be ob- tained. The United States Pharmacopoeia re- quires that all the preparations shall be made from powdered opium, to avoid the variation in strength that must result from using the crude drug. Good opium has a very charac- teristic narcotic odor, to most people very offensive. It has a reddish brown or fawn color, and its texture is compact. Opium is mostly used in medicine in the form of liquid preparations, of which the following are the most important : Tincture of opium, or laudanum. . 13 minims=l gr. opium. Elixir, or deodorized tincture 11 " " u Wine of opium 8 " " " Vinegar of opium, or black drop . . 6# " " " Camphorated tincture of opium, or paregoric elixir 272 " " " It is the most complex article of the materia medica, not less than twelve distinct alkaloids and two characteristic organic acids having been found among the proximate principles contained in it, besides a volatile odorous sub- stance and many others of less importance. The alkaloids are mainly in the form of salts combined with meconic, thebolactic, and sul- phuric acids. It yields its virtues to water, alcohol, and diluted acids, but not to ether. Diluted alcohol or proof spirit is the menstru- um best adapted to make the most complete liquid representative of opium ; it dissolves everything of value, leaving an inert residue, which if the opium is pure consists only of the scrapings of the poppy capsules. About two thirds of the opium is dissolved by diluted alcohol. Water will dissolve about one half of the opium, but it will not take up the res- inous and odorous matters that abound in the drug. Morphia (Ci7Hi 9 NO 3 + H a O=303) is the most abundant and by far the most important ingredient in opium. It probably exists in the drug as a meconate, and partly also as thebo- lactate and sulphate, in each of which forms it is quite soluble in water. There are many processes by which morphia can be prepared from opium. The simplest and best is the Staples process, officinal in the United States Pharmacopoeia, of which the following is an outline. An infusion of the opium is evapo- rated until eight parts are obtained from one of opium ; this is mixed with an equal volume of alcohol and water of ammonia added in slight excess, and the mixture set aside for 24 hours, during which time the morphia sepa- rates in crystals at the bottom of the vessel. By redissolving in boiling alcohol and treating with animal charcoal, the coloring matter can be removed and the morphia obtained in col- orless prismatic crystals, having nearly 6 per cent, of water of crystallization. They are solu-