OPIUM.— Constituents.
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covered with fragments of poppy loaves, Rumexchaff, &c. Its consistence is much less than that ofIndian opium ; it can be cut with a knife, mouldedwith the fingers. The centre of the lump is moist.Its colour varies from almost black-brown to a lightchestnut.
Egyptian opium is of much greater consistence ; itsfracture is finely porous, of a dark brown colour.
Persian opium is the produce of Papaver somni-.ferum , var. y album (P. officinale , Gm.) It contains 8to 11 per cent, of morphine, and is commonly muchadulterated.
The poppy plant may be cultivated in most of thecountries of Europe . In France , Aubeiigiek ofClermont-Ferrand produces an opium which he callsAffirm, and which contains 10 per cent, of morphine.
Constituents. —The chemical history of opium maybe said to have its origin so far back as 1803, whenCharles Derosne , an apothecary of Paris , in dilutinga syrupy aqueous extract of opium, observed a jcrystalline body, in which he believed its narcoticproperties to reside. From his description of itsproperties this substance was obviously narcotine(C 22 ir 2g NO T ). In 1805 SertuRNER made the nextstep in the investigation of opium. He detectedmeconic acid (C 7 11 4 0 7 ), and morphia, or morphine,(C 17 II w NOg). In 182 GDuBLANCdiscoveredmeconine(Cj 0 II 10 O 4 ). During the several years followingopium was subjected to a very minute investigationby Couerbe, Pelletier, Robiquet , Merck , andothers, who added codeine (C 18 II 01 ]Sr0 3 ), tliebaine(C 19 II 21 N0 3 ), narceine (C 2S 1I 2S N0 9 ), and porphy-roxine (?) to the list of its crystalline constituents.Subsequent to their time, little was done until 1844,when Wohler and Blytii separately examinednarcotine, and made it the starting point of a veryremarkable series of jiroducts. In 1850 ThomasAnderson (Professor of Chemistry in the University of Glasgow ) undertook the study of the principles°f opium, and cleared up some of the doubtfulpoints. He found that the varying results obtainedby different experimenters greatly depended on themethods they pursued. Some investigators foundparticular substances abundantly, others in onlysmall quantity; the difference Anderson states to bedue to modifications in working, which at first sighta Ppear very trifling. Even the quantity of wateremployed in the primary solution of the opium isimportant, and greatly affects the quantity ofresinoid matters dissolved, and by consequence,the facility with which some of the bases are madet° separate in the crystalline condition.
This opinion is borne out by the researches°f Eatwell, Deciiarme, Adrian, and others.Uechaiuie observed that the amount of morphinediminished when the juice is very slowly dried—apoint of great importance, deserving attention inIndia , the opium from whence is remarkable for itslow percentage of morphine. It is extremely pro-bable that the long period during which the juiceremains in a wet state (always three to four weeks),goes far to account for the small quantity, throughdecomposition taking place.
VOL. II.
The following table, by Fluckiger and Hanbury,shows the natural alkaloids of opium and a few oftheir artificial derivatives.
TABLE OP OPIUM ALKALOIDS AND TIIEIlt DERIVATIVES.
Discovered by
Wohler, 1844.
Hesse, 1871.
Matthiessen &Wright, 1871.
Wright, 1871.SerUirner, 1816.
Pelletier & Thi-boum6ry, 1835.
Matthiessen &Burnside, 1871.
Wright, 1871.Kobiquet, 1832.
Matthiessen & >Foster, 1868. jThiboumdry,1835.
Hesse, 1870.Ilesse, 1870.
Ilesse, 1871.
Matthiessen 1Foster, 1868. jIlesse, 1811.Hesse, 1870.
Ilesse, 1870.
Ilesse, 1865.
Ilesse, 1865.Ilesse, 1870.
T. II. Smith,1864.
Ilesse, 1871.Derosne, 1803.
Ilesse, 1870.
Pelletier, 1835.
Cotarrdne ..^I2^i3^^3
Formed by oxidising narcotine; solu-ble in water.
1. IIydkocotaknine, ... .
Crystallizable. alkaliue, volatile at
100° C.
Apomorphine .. .; CtfHjjrNOa
From morphine, by hydrochloric acid.Colourless, amorphous, turninggreen by exposure to air; emetic.
Desoxymorphine, .C^H^NO^
2. Morphine,. .. • •«c 17 h 19 nu 3
Crystallizable, alkaline, levogyre.
3. PSEUDOMOUPHlNE,.^7^19^04
Crystallizes with 1I 2 0, does not unite
even with acetic acid.
Apocodeiiie .. .
From codeine by chloride of zinc;amorphous, emetic.
Desoxycodeine .. C 18 H. 21 NO a
Crystallizable, alkaline, soluble in
water.
Nornarcotine ,
Ci 9 Hi 7 N0 7
5. Thebajne, ..,C 19 II 21 N0 3
Crystallizable, alkaline.
Thebenine ,. CmHjjNO,
2'hebatcine ,...... .; • • *
From tliebaine or thebenine by hydro-chloric acid.
6. PUOTOPINE,.^ 2o H I9 N0 5
Crystallizable, alkaline.
Mcthylnornarcotine, .C 20 II 19 NO 7
Deutcropine ..C 20 H 2i NQ 5
7. Laodanine, .C 20 Il 25 NO 4
An alkaloid which, as well as its salt,
forms large crystals, turns orange byhydrochloric acid.
8. Codamine, . .C. i0 H 26 NO 4
Crystallizable, alkaline, can be sub-limed, becomes green by nitric acid.
9. Papaverine,.C 2 iII 21 N0 4
Crystallizable, also its hydrochlorate,
sulphate in sulphuric acid precipi-tated by water.
10. IllKEADINE,.
Crystallizable, not distinctly alkaline;
can be sublimed; occurs only inPapaver rhaias.
Rhceayenine, .C 2l H 21 NO c
From rheeadine, crystallizable, alkaline.
11. Meconidine, .C 21 H 23 N0 4
Amorphous, alkaline, melts at 58° C.;
not stable, the salts also easilyaltered.
12. Cryptopine,.C 21 H 23 NO B
Crystallizable, alkaline; salts tend to
gelatinize, hydrochlorate crystallizes
in tufts.
13 . Laudanosine,.C 21 II 27 N 0 4
Crystallizable, alkaline.
14. Narcotine,. ....... .C 2 . 2 II 23 N0 7
Crystallizable, not alkaline ; salts not
stable.
15 . Lanthopine,... C^II^N 0 4
Crystals not alkaline, sparingly soluble
in hot or cold alcohol, ether, orbenzol.
10 . Narceine,.Qj 3 ^ 2 !.>N 0 9
Crystallizable (as a hydrate) readilysoluble in boiling vvaterorinalkalies,levogyre.