"OPIUM: ITS NATURE, COMPOSITION, PREPARATIONS, AND METHODS
OF CONSUMPTION."
PAPER BY MR. FRANK BROWNE, F.I.C., F.C.S.,
GOVERNMENT ANALYST, HONGKONG.
[Reprinted from the Hongkong Telegraph, of 24th and 25th February, 1910.]
There was laid on the table of the Legislative Council this afternoon a report on Opium; its mature, composition, preparations, and methods of consumption. The report is dated 14th November, 1908, and is by Mr. Frank Browne, F.I.C., F.C.S., Government Analyst. The report reads :-
Opium is the milky juice of the unripe capsules of Papaver somniferum or opium poppy, obtained by incision and inspissated by spontaneous evaporation.
COMPOSITION. The following may be taken as the general composition of opium ;-
Per Cent.
Morphine
Narcotine
Other alkaloids
6 to 15 average 8 4 to 8
..... 0.5 to 2
Meconin..................under I
Meconic acid
Peculiar resin & caout-
produced by opium differ but little from those consequent on the administration of pure morphine. It is nearly insoluble in cold water, but dissolves readily in dilute acids to form salis.
The dose of opium according to the British` Pharmacopoeia is from one-half to two grains and of morphine from one-tenth to half a grain,
VARIETIES.
The chief are Turkey, Smyrna or Constan. tinople opium, Patna, Benares, Malwa or In- dian opium, Persian, Egyptain, and Kuei-chou Yün-nan and Ssu-ch'uan, or Chinese opium Very rich opiums can also be prepared in Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, England and Sweden.
The following table shows the nature of some of these varieties -
Kind of Opium. Morphine, Hot water Cold water Water
extract
chouc
Fat
LUU
3 to 8 average 4
5 to 10
I 10 4
40 to 56
STAR
18 to 20 -
4 to 8
Gum & soluble humcid
acid matters
Insoluble matters and
mucus....KEBUN
Ash
Water
8 to 30 average 20
Opium is remarkable for the large number of definite, highly complex, crystalline principles contained in it. Of these about zo are alka. loids, and chief in abundance and in value is morphine. Next in importar ce are the al-a- loids codeine, thebaine, papaverine, narcotine and parceine. These bave been observed in the following proportions:-
Codeine Thebaine
Per cent.
****** JO 219901ODKYKY
0.02 to 0,4 0.15 to 1.0
4 to 8
Papaverine.....
Narcotine
Narceine......
1.0
0 02 to 0.7 It will be seen from what follows that these five alkaloids occur in such small proportion that they modify but little the action of the morphice when opium is taken.
Morphine exists in opium in combination with sulphuric and meconic acids. It crystal. lises in transparent, colourless, trimetric prisms. At or above 200° C. morphine partially volatilises, melts, and turns brown, becoming carbonised at a somewhat higher temperature. It is inodorous, has a persistent bitter taste, and is a powerful narcotic poison. The poi- sonous effects of opium are essentially due to the morphine contained in it, and the symptoms,
extract
Smyrna Patna
12 to 16 6
64
12.5
63
Benares
66
Malwa
858
бо
26
61
28
60
14
Persian 10 to 12
(varies) 68
Kuei-chou 4 Yün-nan Su-ch'uan 10 Egyptain
48
9
ྨg*།
14
25
59
30
56
38
7
65
IS
In Appendices A. to C. will be found more complete details of the composition of Indian and Chinese opiums. About 400,000 chests of Chinese opium are consumed an nually in China while the consumption of the foreign variety (mostly Indian) is from 40,000, to 50,000 chests. PREPARATION AND METHODS OF CON-
SUMPTION,
Opium in various forms is official in all the pharmacopoeias of the world. In Appendix D will be found a list of those preparations ap- pearing in the British Pharmacopoeia. In ad- dition to these, in England, a large quantity of opium is consumed in patent medicines, such as cough mixtures, chlorodyne, and such like remedies, In European countries the use of opium and its preparations is chiefly medicinal. In the East there are but few preparations, opium water, wine, pills, morphine for injection, and smoking opium, each of which together with its uses will be treated in detail and opium in its raw condition will be first considered.
1. RAW OPIUM.
The consumption of raw opium is a very ancient practice among Eastern nations. In the British Medical Journal for 1894, January