the Economic Products of India
71
Manufacture at Government Agencies.
PAPAVER
somniferum.
' l e a v e s . ' B y O c t o b e r , t h e c a k e s a r e p e r f e c t l y d r y t o t h e t o u c h , a n d
fairly solid ; they are then packed in chests, furnished with a double tier
of wooden partitions, each tier with twenty square compartments for the
reception of so many cakes, which latter are steadied and packed around
with loose poppy-trash. The chests must be most carefully kept from
damp for a length of time ; but ultimately the opium in the cake ceases
to yield any more moisture to the shell, and the latter acquires extreme
solidity. Each case contains 120 catties (about 160lb). The foregoing
remarks refer exclusively to the Government prepared opium for the
Chinese market, which includes the great bulk of the entire product.
" Bengal opium intended for internal consumption, and known as abkari
opium, is prepared in the following manner :—It is inspissated b њ y expo-
sure to direct sun-heat till its standard is 90 per cent., and its consistence
resembles wax. It is then moulded into square bricks weighing one seer
each, which are wrapped in oiled Nepal paper, and packed in boxes fur-
nished with compartments for their reception. Put up in this way, it has
not the powerful aroma of the 'cake ' drug, but it is more concentrated,
and more easily packed. It is sometimes also made into flat square
tablets."
CHEMISTRY OF OPIUM.
The complex nature chemically of the inspissated sap of poppy capsules
has been dealt with so fully by writers on the subject that it is perhaps
scarcely necessary to review here the history of the development of our
knowledge of the subject. The Journals and Transactions of the Royal
Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain teem with papers on the chemistry
of opium, and a large series of special works exist which are accessible to
the student. The recent publication by Dymock, Warden, & Hooper
(Pharmacographia Indica), however, contains much of a practical and spe-
cially Indian nature on the chemistry of opium. It will perhaps, therefore,
serve the purposes of the present publication better to reprint the special
chemical chapter of that work rather than to attempt a separate compilation
from the voluminous literature that exists : —
" The alkaloids which have been separated from opium are Hydroco.
tarnine, C12,H 1 5
N O 3 ; M o r p h i n e , C 1 7 H 1 9 N O5
; P s e u d o m o r p h i n e , C
17H 1 9
NO 4 ; Codeine, C18 H21 NO3; Thebaine, C19, H21 NO3; Protopine,C 2 0
H 1 9
NO 5 ; Laudanine, C20 H 25 NO4 ; Codamine, C20 H25 NO4 ; Papaverine. C
2 0 H
2 1
N O 4 ; R h œ a d i n e , C 2 1 H 2 1
N O 6 ; O p i a n i n e , C 2 1 H 2 1 N O 7 ; M e c o n i d m e ,
C21 H 23 NO4; Cryptopine, C21 H23 NO 5 ; Laudanosine, C21 H27 NO4;
Narcotine, C22 H23 NO 7 ; Lanthopine, C23 H.25 NO4 ; Natceine, C23 H29
NO9; Gnoscopi ne, C34, H36 N2 O11. A bi tter pri nci pl e, Meconi n, C1 0
H 1 0
O4 is also present in opium, accompanied by Meconic acid, C 7 H4 O 7.
Porphyroxin, first described by Merck, occurs in East Indian, in Smyrna,
and probably other opiums. The principle is of interest, because it has
the property of being reddened by hydrochloric acid, a reaction which has
been utilised for many years in testing for opium in medico-legal analysis
in the Bengal Chemical Examiner's Department. In testing viscera for
opium the ethereal extract obtained by Stas's process is evaporated in a
porcelain capsule, and the dry residue moistened with dilute hydrochloric
acid ; on the application of a gentle heat a red coloration is developed should
opium be present. A good plan of applying the test is to place on the
bottom of the capsule containing the dry ether extract, a very small watch
glass moistened with a few drops of concentrated hydrochloric acid ; the
capsule is then covered with a glass plate ; after standing some time a red
or violet reddish coloration appears on the sides of the capsule should por-
phyroxin be present. The application of heat is unnecessary when the test is
MANUFAC-
TURE.
Opium
factory.
CHEMISTRY.