MANUFAC-
TURE.
Extraction.
6 2
PAPAVER
somniferum.
Extracted from the Dctionary of
Extraction of the Crude Drug from Poppy.
"leaves"); (d ) "trash" or a powder prepared from the dried stems and
leaves; (e) capsules; and ( f ) seed. The first mentioned three substances
are those alone with which the Opium Department is concerned. They
will, therefore, be dealt with in some detail in this place.
Extraction of the Drug.—The method of extracting the drug is de
-scribed at page 74 of Mr. Scott's Manual. The capsules are lanced in
the afternoon with an instrument known as the nashtar; this consists of
four sharp blades tied together with cotton, the cotton being passed between
the blades so as to keep them about 1/30th of an inch apart. The incisions
are drawn from below upwards, in perpendicular lines, but much care and
great practice are necessary to ensure their being made of exactly the right
depth. A merely superficial scratch is of no use, but, on the other hand,
the walls of the capsule must not be cut through. Each capsule is usually
lanced in this manner three or four times at intervals of two or three days,
but sometimes a single incision exhausts the drug, while occasionally a
productive capsule will give five, eight, or even ten discharges. The opium
from the early sowings is thinner and more plentiful ; that from the later
sowings is more scanty, but of higher consistence. In the operation of
lancing, a whole field is not taken in hand at once; it is divided into two
or three portions, which are taken up on successive days. The work is
generally performed, not by hired labour but by the rayat himself and his
family. The object of the division of the fields is to make the labour con
-tinuous, by providing employment for each day.
The drug is collected in the early morning of the day
following that on
which the capsule has been lanced. The juice which has exuded from
the
incisions is scraped off with a small trowel-shaped scoop of thin iron
called a setwah (or sutwa). As the scoop is filled, the opium is transferred
to a metal or earthen vessel, and is taken to the rayat's house for further
manipulation. The subsequent treatment of the drug differs somewhat in
the two Agencies. The Benares standard of consistence being 70 per cent.
opium to 30 moisture, the Benares rayat keeps his opium in an earthen pan,
which is slightly tilted to allow the pasewa to drain off. The pasewa is
poured away into a separate vessel, and the opium is turned over by hand
from time to time, at intervals of not more than a week. But as the standard
in Behar is higher than that of Benares, viz., 75, it is the object of the Behar
rayat to raise the consistence of his opium more than this process would en--
able him to do. Accordingly after the pasewa has drained off, he puts the
opium on a cloth tied over an earthen dish. This absorbs a good deal of
the moisture, but a portion of the opium necessarily adheres to the cloth.
This cloth is technically known as kuffa or kaffá, and is purchased by Gov
-ernment at a price proportioned to the quantity of opium it contains. The
term kaffá or kaohá is also given to the special preparation of opium used in
the manufacture of madak (Conf. with Narcotics, V., 328). Pasewa is
purchased by Government at a fixed rate of R3-8 per seer. Fresh
opium as collected contains about 50 per cent. of moisture. The average
yield for each scarification is about 10 grains, but a healthy plant may
yield 75 grains in all, viz., with five to eight scarifications.
The above notes (compiled from official papers and from Mr. Scott's
Manual) may be said to represent the chief facts of the extraction of crude
opium, as practised in Behar and Benares. The following passages from
Dr. Impey's account of Malwa convey the leading peculiarities of the
methods pursued in Native States :—"Early in February and March the
bleeding process commences. Three small lancet-shaped pieces of iron are
bound together with cotton, about one-twelfth of an inch alone protruding,
so that no discretion as to the depth of the wound to be inflicted shall be
left to the operator ; and this is drawn sharply up from the top of the stalk