Opium

(o'pe-um.) [From Gr. opos, juice.] (Chem.) The inspi ated juice of a species of poppy, the Papaver somniferum, a native of Turkey, but now naturalized in many parts of the world. It is obtained by wounding the unripe seed capsules, collecting the milky juice which exudes, drying it in the sun, and kneading it into cakes. The O. of commerce is in cakes, covered with pieces of dried leaves, and the seed capsules of some species ofRumex. It should be of a rich brown color, a tough consistency, and a smooth, uniform texture. Its peculiar narcotic smell ought to be strong and fresh; its taste is hot, and somewhat acrid. Its activity as a medicine depends on the presence of morphia, an alkaline base, in combination with meconic acid. It contains also narcotine, narceide, cod ein, gum, resin, extractive matter, and small quantities of other proximate elements. The Indian O. is exported in enormous quantities to China, in spite of the prohibition of the Chinesegovt., and its vigorous attempts to prevent the introduction of the drug. Comparatively little Indian O. finds its way into this country, where the most esteemed and most largely used kind is known as Smyrna or Turkey O. It is beyond all doubt the most valuable of all drugs, and may be used with advantage in an immense number of conditions: to relieve pain, allay spasm, promote sleep, relieve restle ne , produce perspiration, or check exce ive discharges. In small doses its effects are those of a stimulant, followed by depre ion; in larger doses constipation, perspiration, contracted pupils, and somnolency are induced, and in still larger quantities coma and death. The habit of Opium smoking is chiefly confined to China and the islands of the Indian Archipelago. An extract called chan doo is made into pills abt. the size of a pea. One of these pills being put into the small tube that projects from the side of the O. pipe, that tube is applied to a lamp, and the pill being lighted is consumed at one whiff or inflation of the lungs, attended with a whistling noise. The smoke is never emitted by the mouth, but usually receives vent through the nostrils. Although the immoderate practice of O. -smoking is most destructive to those who live in poverty and distre , yet it does not appear that the Chinese in easy circumstances, and who have the comforts of life about them, are materially 4I affected in respect to longevity by addiction to this habit. [s. 665]