and the Manufacture of Opium.
PAPAVER
somniferum
the Economic Products of India.
65
MANUFAC-
TURE.
broken up for " trash, " and the thicker parts of the stem are generally used
for fuel or thatching. The quantity of " trash" required annually is regu-
- l a t e d b y t h e a m o u n t o f o p i u m m a n u f a c t u r e d .
The " trash " is usually delivered at the Sub-Agencies in bags of about
1 m a u n d e a c h . O n a r r i v a l a t t h e A g e n c i e s t h e s e b a g s a r e a g a i n w e i g h e d .
One or more bags in each consignment are opened, and all foreign mat-
- t e r , s u c h a s e a r t h a n d s t i c k s , r e m o v e d a n d s e p a r a t e l y w e i g h e d : 1 0 p e r
cent. of foreign matter is allowed to pass, but, for any quantity in excess
of that, a proportionate reduction is made from the weighment of the
whole despatch. At each of the Agencies from R 10,000 to R 15,000 are
p a i d a n n u a l l y f o r " t r a s h . "
Lewa—Is the paste by which the layers of the shell of the ' provision
opium' cake are held together. In the preparation of lewa all the
opium of inferior quality, unfit for the central mass of a cake by reason of
its consistence or the presence in undue quantity of pasewa, is used,
supplemented if necessary by good opium. The pasewa delivered, is also
employed to the extent of 5 per cent. in making lewa, to give greater ad--
hesiveness to the paste.
Seed &Oil.—In another part of this article full particulars will be
found of poppy seed and oil. The best seed is yielded by capsules which
have not been lanced. The bland oil obtained from them is used at the
opium factories in the manufacture of excise opium, a few drops being
smeared on the inner paper wrapper to prevent this adhering to the
Abkari cake.
ESTIMATION OF THE VALUE OF OPIUM.
Mr. Gregory gives the following practical notes on the subject of esti--
mating the value of the crude opium presented by the rayats at the
Government Agencies :—
" The points that an Opium Examiner keeps before him, and that
intuitively pass through his mind, in the physical examination of the drug,
are—
(a) consistence, (c) texture,
(b) colour,
(d ) aroma.
" Each one of the above points gives him some indication as to the
quality of the drug and its ultimate appraisement, and also as to its dis--
posal for factory uses.
" CONSISTENCE. — By this term we mean the actual percentage of solid
and non-volatile matter in any given sample of the drug, if it were
subjected to evaporation and reduced to dryness at a temperature of 200°F
ahr.
" Pure opium being paid for by Government at a fixed rate for a certain
standard of consistence, and being subject to a pro rata increase or de--
crease in price according as it is above or below that standard, it will be
readily seen that the importance of arriving at the true consistence of any
given parcel of the drug stands second to none of the many duties devolv--
ing on the Opium Examiner.
" By the help of sensitive balances and metallic tables heated by steam
accurate results in the estimation of consistence can be relied on, and the
mechanical method pursued at the present day has already been noticed.
Such a delicate operation, however, as the 'assaying ' of opium (as the
estimation of the true consistence by steam tables is termed) can be applied
to a very limited portion of the many thousand tons of the drug that pass
through the factories. Every 100 grains of the drug, therefore, that is
placed on the steam table is a representative sample of a large bulk that
Lewa.
Seed.
Oil.
VALUATION.