r

Ilennell was not freed from narcotina.

than the commercial opium; six ounces of the former being equal to(Duncan, Suppl. to the Ed. Disp. p. 81.)

1278 ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

f ihe T>°PP-/

opiate odour. I must refer those interested in the cultivation ox t ^ ojand production of British opium, to the papers of Mr. Ball, in y ol uig>Soc. of Arts, xiv. 253 ; of Mr. Jones, Ibid, xviii. 161; of ^ r ' ( j 0 fth 6Ibid, xxxvii. 23 ; of Messrs. Cowley and Staines, Ibid. xl. 9 i altev. G. Swayne, Quart. Journ. vols. viii. and ix. srS ,

Mr. Hennell procured from 700 grains of English opium, prepared . ^ s aiiiCowley and Staines, 53 grains, or 7'57 per cent., of morphia; while ' ron 0 f mow'jquantity of Turkey opium he obtained only 48 grains, or nearly 7 percent.. . c(.Trans. Soc. Arts , xliii. 57). Mr. Morson (Ibid. 1. 25), from 20 oz. avoird. " 3ll dBritish opium, procured only 384 grains, or about 4-4 per cent, of rnorp" ’ j,y Mgrains, or about 2-53 per cent., of narcotina. Probably the morphia obtaii rl) „ije

Mr. Young declares British opi" nl 1 10 . . e latte

- - " - - ’ eight o' tlie

pies

7. French Opium ( Opium Gallicum). —I have not seen any sal ' detfthis. Pelletier (Journ. de Pharm. xxi. 570) describes it asreddish-brown, and brittle when dry. Its taste was somewhat

to that of Smyrna opium. It left a less insoluble residuum thanopium. erinlf „t

Pelletier procured more morphia from it than from Smyrna opium. In an ^on about two ounces of each he obtained 10-38 per cent, from the former, an traC eS P |.per cent, from the latter. It contained no narcotina. He obtained sensi uaI) titJ'.codeia, but none of narceine, meconine, or thebaina, perhaps because tbe 4 r jn cl P ( ,opium experimented on was too small. The disappearance of one im , arei^T-l;(narcotina), and the augmentation of another (morphia), caused by climate, /

ing facts. Petit (Journ. de Pharm. xiii. 183) got from 16 to 18 per cent. ? ^ I'f e ° cand Caventou (quoted by Christison) obtained from 22 to 28 per cent, nopium ; but I presume the morphia was very impure.

8. German Opium (Opium Germanicum). —I am unacquainted " 1 ^ ^

Biltz, of Erfurt, got from indigenous German opium 16J and even 20 a” 1

morphia, where the opium had been procured from the P. somniferum «• n J a y,i0between 61 and 9£ narcotina. But from opium made from P. somniferum P-got conversely 6-8 per cent, of morphia, and 33 per cent, of narcotina. ^

Commerce of Opium.—T he quantities of opium on which dutypaid during the last six years, are as follows ( Trade List ):—

In 1837 . 36 ; 8 s^ lbS

1839. 40,784

he

In 1834.27,253 lbs.

1835 .30,398

1836 .38,553

and

• «to t]l?t

Since August 13, 1836, the duty has been Is. per lb.; previou a grd from 1828 it was 4s. per lb. Of the above quantities the Spart was imported from Turkey. a P

The quantity of opium produced in Ilindostan is enorm 0 " er , rPatna and Benares its cultivation is a monopoly in the hands ° , s teo‘ , ntment; and a revenue is derived from the Malwa opium, by a s -\" j i' 1passes on shipment from Bombay. Of the whole quantity ra ge0 tIlindostan, it is calculated that about two-thirds have been fitCanton, and the remainder to the Eastern Islands (Evid. taken bejCommittee of the House of Lords on the Affairs of the East , Jhpany, No. 646, 1830, p. 25). The following table is fr° n JMontgomery Martin’s Statistics of the Colonies of the BritishLond. 1839 (p. 366).