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takes place ; and whaten-er produces greatmental excitement, is apt to render pubertyprecocious. BALLARD, a French writer,mentions an instance of a female attributiugher pregnancy to a boy of ten years of age,—’a. circumstance which he attributed to theboy having engaged in the turmoil of theRevolution.But it is in the female sex that the influ-

ence of climate on puberty chiefly displaysitself. Heat has a most powerful influenceQu the maturity of animals; but in thehuman animal much is also due to educa-tion, manners, and moral discipline. In thepeninsular region of India, in Java, and inth tropical islands, girls begin to menstru-ate so early as eight and nine years of age ;bat when these girls have been early remov-d to Europe, after having once menstruated,the function has ceased, and not again re-turned until fifteen or sixteen years of age.In the temperate zone, the usual age istwelve to fourteen; and in Lapland andNorway it is rarely before the twenty-fourthyear that menstruation occurs ; and when ittakes place the returns are at long intervals,and frequently only during summer. Thenceheat has a considerable influence in bringinganimals to premature maturity. In theCotton mills of Manchester and of Glasgow,which are kept at a high temperature, girlsarrive early at puberty : thence the occupa-tion and the local position of females shouldalways be kept in view, in giving evidence,when a question as to their puberty is raised.These local causes modifying the periodof puberty are important to be known. Infemales who pass to other quarters of theglobe, the habit more or less continues for atime, under the influence of the climate fromwhich they came ; and thence in criminaltrials in which the question of female pubertyis raised, the medical witness must alwayshave reference to this fact. Thus, if wesuppose a girl under thirteen years of age,a native of Hindostan, lately arrived inEngland, to be accused of infanticide, com-mitted in this country, and no symptoms ofpremature precocity are very evident, a pleaof nonage might be set up, and might defeatthe ends of justice ; but, if the medical evi-dence be aware of the influence of climatein hastening the period of puberty in anative of Hindostan, and that the habit con-tinues to operate for some time after re-

moval to a more temperate latitude, thisplea could be no bar to judgment, if theother evidence were convincing; and, forthe same cause, a Norwegian woman comingto this island, if her residence here had beenshort, could scarcely be justly condemned ona charge of infanticide under twenty yearsof age. The necessity, therefore, of attend-ing to the influence of climate, in modifyingthe period of puberty, when delivering evi-dence in medico-legal inquiries, is obvious.

LECTURESON

MATERIA MEDICA ANDTHERAPEUTICS,

NOW IN COURSE OF DELIVERY

AT THE

WINDMILL-STREET SCHOOL OF MEDICINE.BY

GEORGE G. SIGMOND, M.D.

LECTURE V.

Opium:—First Teachers of its Uses; its His-tory as a Therapeutic Agent; its Produc-tion and Use in the East; its Cultivationin Europe ; the best kind.—Ill-regulatedProceedings of Chemists, in Science.—Ana-lyses of Opium; its Constituents.—BestMode of obtaining Morphia.OuR doom on earth is labour, pain, and

sorrow. The more anxiously the inquiringintellect of man surveys the universe beforehim, and the more intensely he scrutinizesthe hidden mysteries by which lie is sur-rounded, the more firmly does the convic.tion settle upon the mind, that such was notalways his lot. That awflll judgment isthen recalled to the conscious mind, and heknows and feels its truth: " Cursed is theground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thoueat of it all the days of thy life." But hisconsolation is, that his punishment was tem-pered with mercy, and that boon was notrecalled, " Behold I have given thee everyherb bearing seed which is upon the faceof all the earth, and every tree which is thefruit of a tree yielding seed ; to you it shallbe for food." Such reflections naturallytake possession of the mind, when contem.plating the power given us, of assuagingthe acutest sufferings of our helpless natureby the administration of a simple juice, theproduce of the humble poppy, and which,in the land of its growth, has obtained, from

the submissive believer in an unerring Pro.vidence, who has predestined all things, the

name of « Masch-Allah," the gift of God.It is one of the most honourable boasts of

the physicians of this country, that the wholemedical profession of Europe acknowledges

that they first taught the proper treatment ofinflammation by active blood-letting, andthe cure of intermittent fever by bark, and; that the English physicians are likewise to1 be venerated as having first disseminated a

proper knowledge of the inestimable value,s in the healing art, of opium ; and though inthe present day its virtues are not suffi-

ciently estimated, or the art of properly ad-- ministering it is forgotten, MURRAY of Giit-

tingen has celebrated the praises of ourpredecessors, "Anglorum experientia multas

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opii virtutes, antea ignotas, in nostrum cog-nitionem primum pervenisse, fatendum est."He has pointed out the first teachers of itsuses, and their names may well be the gloryof an intellectual body of men: SYDENHAMand MORTON, FREIND and MEAD, PRINGLE,WHYTE, and LIND. This is more particularlyto be noticed, because foreign physiciansreceived this drug with considerable doubt,and by no means placed any reliance uponits efficacy. It is true that PLATER hadcommended it, and that SILVIUS was loudas to its merits, which he had learnt fromVAN HELMONT, but to such an excess did hecarry his enthusiasm, that he obtainedamongst his cotemporaries the name of " theOpiate." PARACELSUS had previously success-fully employed it. Probably these learnedmen had been somewhat extravagant, or too ! general, in its praises; for until BOERHAAVE,with much moderation and little theory, re-commended it, scarcely any attention waspaid to it. His pupils, and amongst thosewere VAN SWIETEN and DE HAEN, followedtheir venerated preceptor in his views, andit was afterwards very generally receivedand freely employed. That STAHL shouldoppose it, was not at all surprising,-allnovelties in practice he regarded with hor-ror, He was one of the school of bigots, atone time the guides and leaders of sciencein Europe, but of whom none remain at thepresent hour; but their place is supplied bythe lovers of every thing that is new andwonderful under the sun, who try every newremedy, and abandon it with as much preci-pitancy as they at first embraced it, whenany new candidate for universal reputationas a panacea presents itself. STAHL was

certainly the most inflexible opposer of everynew doctrine. He declaimed against iron,ammonia, mercury, opium, and bark, whichlatter he declared produced hectic fever inthe thin, and dropsy in the fat subjects ofour medical art. JUNCKER assisted in vitu-perating opium, without, however, diminish-ing its reputation in the eyes of the candidand examining physician. I need scarcelyallude to the early employment of opium asa narcotic medicine, with a view of enteringinto any historical disquisition; you willnd ill LE CLERC’s History of Medicine allthat is necessary to be known: certainly,HIPPOCRATES did not use it as such, althougha cotemporary, DIAGORAS, did. CELSUS ap-pears to have had some objections to theadministration of narcotics, and his descend-ants, the surgeons, seem to have inheritedthe feelings of their first great writer; for,on looking through their writings, you willbe struck with their inattention to thepowers of this drug. It is true that, gene-rally speaking, it is only within a few yearsthey have learnt the effect of general treat-ment upon local disease, and that they arebeginning to abandon the use of instrumentson energy occasion ; that they have now a

greater insight into the employment of medi-’cine ; and that, for instance, in spasmodicstricture of the urethra, the constant intro-duction of an instrument, which has beenthe source of such large fortunes to someindividuals, is abandoned for a healthierand safer practice. ÆTIUS, ALEXANDERTRALUAN, PAUL of Ægina, very rarely com,-mend opium. It enters, however, into thecomposition of the Philonium of Mithri-date, of Theriaca, of the pills of Cynoglossa.The Arabian physicians were well skilledin its administration.The poppy seems to have been cultivated

in gardens, as early as the days of HOMER.That it was grown at Rome, before it became arepublic, is ascertained from the well-knownillustration that TARQUIN gave of his policy,in cutting off the heads of his poppies as heproposed to do those of his aspiring enemies.It seems to have been grown largely in thefarms in Italy, for we find VIRGIL, in theGeorgics, alluding to it thus :-° Necnon et lini segetem, et cereale papaver .

Tempus humo tegere, et jamdudum incumberearatro; ’

That he was aware. too, of its narcotic pr6"perty, the following line proves :--

————" Lethæo perfusa papavera somno."

But the seeds were the inducement to carryon the cultivation of the poppy. They seemto have formed an article of food of no smaHimportance, and in the days of DIOSCORIDESthey were thus employed. This is also thecase even to the present day, not only inPersia, in Egypt, hut also in Poland, Sile-sia, Hungary, and even Italy. They areformed into little cakes, or breadis sprinkledwith them. LE CLERC thinks they possesssome narcotic property, which is dispersedby fire ; but VAN SWIETEN asserts that theyhave no such quality, that they may beeaten with impunity, and that a pound maybe made use of. The seeds are bland, ino.dorous, and of an agreeable flavour, but theunripe seeds are said to be dangerous. Byexpression they yield an oil, which has been.used as a substitute for butter, without pro.ducing any deleterious effect. It is em-ployed by watchmakers under the name ofOil of Ben. It has been computed that eachplant will yield upwards oaf 3000 seeds.The white poppy, or papaver somniferum,

is a native of Asia. It is an annual plant,rising to a height of five or six feet, floweringin the month of July. It is cultivated to avery great extent, for the purpo3e of com.merce, in Asia Minor. We learn, from theexceedingly interesting, and, as we have nowoccasion to know, the very correct historyof his travels given us by Sir JOHN CHARDIN,that even in the year 1670 it was cultivatedat Afioam. When speaking of the love ofthe Persians for opium, of the extravagantfollies of which they are guilty when intoxi-cated with the drug, he says they obtain it

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from Afioum, from whence its present appel-lation has sprung. His narrati’-e of theeffects of opium, his description of the caba-rets or shops in which men of all ranks andgradations indulge in the licentious use ofopium, corresponds precisely with what isdescribed at the present hour. In the terri-tory of Afioum Kara Hissar, and throughoutthe whole of that pachalik,and in the neigh-bowring provinces, the poppy is the greatobject ofcnlt&re, and of laborious attention.Within the last four years, the government-has unfortunately monopolised the commerce,which was previously free. There is, how-ever, an immense contraband trade carriedon, and there is no deficiency in the supplyeither of the Oriental or European markets.During the last session of tHe Institute ofFrance, a very interesting memoi was readin the Académie des Sciences, from Mons.TEXIER. He received, whilst at Constanti-nople; an invitation from the Mousselim tovisit Afioum R,a.ra Hissar, for the purpose ofinspecting the celebrated poppy-farms. Hedetermined to avail himself of an opportunitywhich has been rarely offered to a se-ientifictraveller. - He accordingly arrived there onthe 3d Jttly, just at the- moment which is in-teresting to-a medical man. He spent fourdays there, and examined very minutely themode of cultivation and- of incisioit. Hedescribes, iilllis dissertation, the geologicalformation of the country, and its generalaspect, which is that of an extinct volcano.There is throughout the tract of country aThere is throughout the tract of country agreat variety of soil,nor does it appear,from- his observations, that the poppy requiresany peculiar condition of land; the temper-ature is at no time very high, aud the snowoften remains on the earth for some months. iHe gives it as his opinion -that the poppywould well bear the temperature of France,and be equally productive. The great injuryto which the crop is liable is from rain, which,should it occur to any great extent in themonths of May and June, would destroy allthe hopes of -the grower, -As the irrigationdoes not depend upon carnal, the variationsin the quality of opium would also be cousi-siderable in the, event of long-continueddrought. A few days after -the- flower has fallen b0’, the husbandman makes an incisioninto the capsule of the poppy; immediatelya white fluid exudes. -The plant is then leftfor a day and a night, during which exuda-tion goes forward. Each poppy-head givesforth opium once,and then only a few grains.They then collect, -with targe knives, thejuice which has acquired a- brown colour.The first sophistication of at least ten which,VI. Tcxmg tells us; it has to undergo, nowtakes place, for the peasant takes care toscrape off a good portion of the epidermis ofthe poppy-head, to increase the weight of theopium. It is then not unlike a viscid jelly.They place it in earthen vessels, and, byway of keeping up the proper moisture, they

pay the delicate attention of spitting into thejars,— Etti operation which Baturallyca!)edforth a question from Mr. TEXIER, whethera little water might not be-considered a fair ;substitute for the saliva. ? These experienced manipulators very tranquilly assured him,that the goodness of the opium was mate-rially inflllenced by their secretion. Theopium is then wrapped up in large leaves,and in that state is sent’to Smyrna or to Con-stantinople. The seeds of the poppy thathas thus yielded its- opium are -useful forsowing in the following December. ’Fhisisthe latest and best description of the cultureof opium. There are some accounts of thegrowth of the poppy and the mode of iilci-sion in India, in various publications, butthey seem all copied from each other. Theauthority of Mr. KEER, is principally de-

ended on. He estimates the produce of asingle acre there at 6Olb. of opium. KÆMP-FER is likewise looked upon as giving a gooddescription of the treament of the poppy;But the dliies of old ÆMILIUS MACER appearto be quite as descriptive of the mode ofobtaining opium in the present day as theywere then ·-’-- - ’

-

Ex hujus teneris facmnt opium capitellis,Incisa leviter summa cute, lacque quod indeDeftuit, accipiunt cochleis, siccumque reservant

Antidotis mnltis aptum, variisque medelis." The poppy has been assiduously cultivatedby botanists, and by medical men in differentparts- of Europe, with a view of ascertainingwhether opium might not be obtained fromit equal in value to-that which is procured "

from the East : and irs almost all the rarinusexperiments that have been: -detailed, welearn that very excellent samples have beenthe result ; but the scale on which these

attempts have bepn earf’ied on,is necessarilyso very limited, that I hardly think we haveany right to arrive at the conclusion that itcan be made an article of cult11l’e1 whichmay be at all likely to supersede that whichcommerce now brings to aa-r doors. ALSTON

’

succeeded in Edinburgh, and it --has beentried in England on more occasions thanone. In the year 1796, Mr. JOHN BALL, ofWilliton, was rewarded by- the Society ofArts for procuring opium in an unsophisti-cated state from British poppies Dr.LATHAM and Dr.- PEARSON pronounced that

it was quite - as effeacions-a.s the foreign- drug. Mr. JotES, at a later period, likewise: !aid before tlae Society some specimens of- opium obtained from poppies grown at

Enfield, which waas declared by the com-mittee of chemistry to be equal in qualityto fine foreign opium; to judge, however,,from the letter which he laid before the) Society, he had to encounter very consider*fable difficulties, owing to the extraordinaryrain and winds which occurred during thesummer he was trying his experiments;but he says this ought not to discourageothers, as it was quite accidental, From

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various attempts that have been made, it extract of poppies, or liquorice, all are sub-appears to me that our climate is not intituled, aid sometimes even the dung ofadapted to its culture, and for many un-! sheep and oxen.successful years one or two favourable Few subjects have excited amongst ones would not repay the grower. The medical men greater attention than thevear 1817 wao remarkable in the neighbour- labours of the chemists to ascertain in whathood of London for the fine appearance of particular part of a plant its virtues reside,the poppies, the extract was particularly and by analysis to obtain it from the bodiesgood, and it was attributed to the weather with which it is united. In some instancesbeing unusually clear and fine ; indeed, it has led to most important and valuablefrom the 2nd of June untilthe autumn, there accessions to our science, and placed in ourwas a sunny, temperate time, exactly hands new instruments by which we canadapted for vegetation. FALK, at Stock- combat disease ; but, again, some bad effectsholm, HALLER, at Göttingen, LINDELSTOFFE, have arisen out of these discoveries ; thereat Carlstadt, have given to ns the result of has been a want of uniformity in the varioustheir observations ; they all of them have preparations, and there has been no inquiryraised the poppy in their respective gardens, conducted on clear and just principles,have made the incision, obtained opium, which would enable the whole professionand used it in medicine successfully. At to-fornt a sound and wholesome judgment. .

Naples they seem to have been very san- One man- announccs in one of the mostguine, and to have expected to have been active poisons, a salutary and useful re-able to make their experiments subservient medy, but no one else finds himself equallyto the supply of the country. TENORE and successful, and this is owing to the differentSAVERY took considerable interest in it. In processes pursued in obtaining it. Again :Sicily, PRESTANDREA superintended the cul- chemists have appeared before the publictivation, and describes a very useful instrn- before the complete analysis of a vegetablement with which he made the incision : his has been obtained ; they have fancied eachfacts and experiments are detailed in the stage of that analysis the end of the journey;"Giornali di Scienza." and the consequence has been, that thereThe two principal varieties of the drug appears to be a multiplicity of discoveries,

which find their way into our market, are which turn out, after all, to be merely un-the Turkish and the Egyptian. The Indian finished inquiries. Some short time since,comes here occasionally, but the greater part the ultimate analysis of opium was pro-of it is sent to China; I have likewise seen nounced to have proved the existence ofother sorts, but they are rather in the three bodies only, morphine, narcotine, andcabinets of the curious than articles of meconic acid, as thepeculiar principles: thecommon occurrence, such as the Persian, in list has now swelled up to twelve. It

long cylindrical rolls. forcibly reminds us of the language whichOf the Turkish and the Egyptian, the first that observant chemist, Sir HUMPHREY

is by far the best, and its price is higher, DAVY, has made use of, nor can one be surr-usually about four shillings a pound dearer, prised that his sagacity and high intellectand it is superior in all its qualities. It saw the ridicule such a state of chemicalcomes to us in round, or oval, nit pieces, and science must excite; he has placed thegenerally some leaves, either of tobacco, or following sentence in the mouth of one ofof some species of rumex, adhere to it. You the persons in a dialogaae, in the Consola-mayjudge of its quality by its weight, and tions in Travel, or the Last Days of aby its characteristic odour; but you must Philosopher :—" I once began. to attend alikewise be aware, that to increase its ’course of chemical lectures, and to read theweight the exporters add all kinds of jcurnals containing the ephemeral produc-rubbish, sometimes marble dust, leaden tians of the science ; I was dissatisfied withbullets, stones, and copper coins. Good the nature of the evidence which that pro-opium is very plastic, and on fepli-no- it you fessor adopted in his demonstrations, andshould examine whether there are any disgusted with the series of observationshardened masses, for it should be equally and experiments which were brought for-soft and yielding at all parts. None is good ward one month to be overturned in the next;but what is perfectly soluble in water. in November there was a zingiberic acid,Occasionally, more particularly in the which was in January shown to have noEgyptian variety, there is a hard glutenous existence at all; one year there - was amass, which becomes still harder by keep- vegetable acid, which was shown tu be theing, and is scarcely to be dissolved in cold same as an acid linown thirty years ago ; towater. If it has dark-brown, or black day a man was celebrated for having dis-patches, if it has a sweet, mawkish taste, covered a new metal, or a new alkali, andand has rather an empyreumatic odour; it is they all flourished like the scenes in a newnot good. The adulterations and sophisti- pantomime." In tracing the steps whichcations are very numerous. Aloes, with have led to the analysis of opium, which isextract of belladonna, or hemlock ; gum now received as the correct one, I do notarabic, or tragacanth, with extract of lettuce ; think it would be at all advantageous to

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you to detail any of the circumstances which ROBIQUET the important duty of investigat-are known previous to the year 1803. From ing and substantiating the facts thus an,the days of NEUMANN, up to that period, nounced by the German chemist. To noalmost all the experiments that were made individual could such a task have beenwere -crude, ill-digested, and produced no entrusted, whose capability and judgmentgood effect. All the practical purposes to would be more appreciated than ROBIQUET.which opium could be applied were in- He commenced his labours, and the firstvestigated with great labour and with great question that he felt called on to inquire intoassiduity; but although the medical men was, what was the.,nature of the substancewho employed it were anxious to obtain that DEROSNE had discovered in the yearevery information, they do not seem to have 1803 ? It was proved, even by the processunderstood upon what principle they should that SERTUr;sxEx had pursued, that it diddirect their inquiries. Numerous are the exist, but that chemist had not acknowledgedpersons I could mention to you who have it to be a constituent principle of opium;written on the subject, and to whom you may he had given it as his opinion, that it was awish to refer ; amongst those, WEDELlUS, Dr. submeconate of morphine. The next ques-CRUMPE, JONES, Ls MORT, BUCHNER, and tion upon which ROBIQUET was to decideCRELL, are principally to be enumerated, was, what was the real nature of the prin.

It was in the year 1803, that DEROSNE an- ciple which SERTUERNER had discovered, andnounced that he had procnred from opium a of which he had given a description.peculiar matter, white, crystallizable, and of The results of the investigation, mostuniform composition, which he then imagin- carefully and philosophically pursued byed to be that peculiar principle in which ROBIQUET, were considered to be highlyreside all the therapeutical and toxicolo- satisfactory, and have been universally ap.gical powers by which that drug is- so preciated. His experiments proved thatstrongly characterised. In the following morphia is an alkaline basis, capable ofyear SEGUIN read a dissertation before the saturating acids, and of forming neutralAcadémie des Sciences, in which he pointed salts ; that the salt discovered by DEROSNEQut the existence of the most energetic con- was not a submeconate of morphia, but thatstituent of the drug; he explained the me- it was a peculiar principle, and that therethod by which it was to be obtained ; he was also a peculiar acid existing in opium,very satisfactorily showed what were its namely, the meconic. These analyses ofessential and distinguishing characteristics. SEGUtN and ROBIQUET were universally re=Here he stopped; and, according to the cognised, and, for a time, the inquiry waslaws of discoverers, he lost that claim to considered conclusive, until M. PELLE-which he would otherwise have been justly TIER feeling, that after fifteen years the

entitled, of being looked upon as the first science of chemistry had put into his handsdiscoverer, for he did not affix to this sub- a greater number of agents, by which ana.stance any name. Had he ventured to call lysis might b3 carried on, determined to

it by any title, to him would have been become a labourer in so important a field ofawarded the merit due to the first ob- investigation; he has been followed byserver of that constituent principle which COURBE and others. PELLETIER’s analysis,has since been known to us under the appel- in 1832, gave us the results which I shalllation of Morphia. To SEGUIN it is, also, that now mention to you,--morphine, meconine,we owe our acquaintance with meconic narceine, meconic acid, a brown crystal1iz.acid, although in this, as in the former case, able acid, peculiar resin, oil, caoutchoricSERTUERNER, of Einbeck, in Hanover, carried gum, bassorine, and ligneous fibre. Duringaway the honour of the discovery in 1816. the last session of the Medico-Botanical-So-The French chemists always speak with ciety, a paper from his pen, translated bysome degree of mortification when, with Mr. FOOTE, announced his observations onthe honesty which should always accompany paramorphine and pseudomorphine, the

science, they prove, that if France cannot latter of which does not always exist. It

actually claim the reputation, her chemists would ill become me, as having little oppor.were on the eve, and really deserve the merit tunities, of pursuing an inquiry into an

of first knowing the important constituents analysis of opium, to make any observationgof opium. It was, however, SExTnEr.NFx, a upon Mons. PELLETIER’S views, but I shallGerman chemist, by whose patient labour confine myself to enumerating those consti.and industry the real nature of morphine tuents which I myself have seen when ob.was unfolded: he placed his discovery upon tained, and of describing the outline of thethe firmest basis, for he showed that it pos- processes by which, according to the firstsessed the property usually attributed to chemists, they are best procured. I have

alkalies, of combining with acids, and of made all the inquiries upon the subject, andforming, when thus united to them, neutral have examined into it with all the attentionsalts. SERTUERNER did not hesitate to give that I have been enabled to give ; the diffi--to the scientific world a memoir which, of culties attendant upon real personal ac.course, attracted considerable attention. quaintance with all the points connectedGAY LUSSAC very properly committed to ,with it, are such that no one, not super.

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intending all the stages, could undertake ! whole of the morphia is precipitated, but theaccurately to describe the processes, which codeia remains still in solution,. This liquorare only carried into efect satisfactorily by is then evaporated down, and then the

practised chemists, upon a very large scale. muriate of ammonia, the codeia, and anyHowever frank and honest may be the com. proportion of morphia, not thrown, down,munications made by the individuals who will crystallize; on the addition of causticconduct these operations, there must neces- potash the morphia will be decomposed,sarily be many particulars which can only the ammoniacal salts dissolved, and thebe known by manipulation and by expe- codeia. be precipitated. The codeia is torience. In speaking of the principles con- be purified in ether, from which it crystal-tained in opium, I must particularly thank lizes.Mr.MORSON, of Southampton-row, for the The essential characteristics which markindness with which he has communicated morphia and distinguish it are, that itwith me; and amongst those from whom I crystallizes in prisms from its alcoholichave had occasion to seek information, I solution, that it is but little soluble in water,must acknowledge him as most willing, that it is insoluble it) ether, and that it isand, from the largeness of his operations, perfectly dissolved by potassa or soda.; thisvery capable of imparting it. There are, distinguishes it altogether from narcotina,indeed, very few in London who have much with which it may sometimes be found, butexperience, and it is only from copying one which is not the case when obtained by thefrom the other, that much acquaintance with process I have just attempted by descriptionthese points is derived, to explain to you ; it gives a deep-red colourThe constituents which at this moment I to nitric acid, and one of the most beau

am led to recognise as existing in opium or tiful blues to muriate of iron by candle-light;morphia, narcotina, codeia, narceia, me- though it has more greenish-hue by daylight;conia, thebaia, meconic acid. How long these tests will fully distinguish it from allthese may continue to be the sole principles other of the alkaloids. . -.

I know not; but in enumerating these I am According to the excellence of the opiumborne out by the testimony of the distinguish- will be the quantity of morphia containeded Professor in the Royal Institution of about lOOlb. weight of the drug will yield6rea,t Britain, Mr. BRANDE, who, I observe, from 120 to 150 ounces of morphia, and, ac-in the last edition of his Manual of Che- cording to ROBIQUET, about six ounces ofmistry, gives them the sanction of his re- codeia will be obtained from 100lb, ofcognition. I have now to explain to you opium also. The salts that have been ob-the methods by which these are to be ob- tained by combination of morphia withtained, so that their actual existence may be acids that have been noticed are, sulphatedemonstrated to you. Two of these prin- of morphia, bisulphate, muriate, nitrate,ciples appear to be well-defined alkaloids, phosphate, and acetate ; and they are ob-at least they possess that striking characte- tained by dissolving the alkaloid in dilutedristic of unity with acids, and forming neutral acids. Opium contains three other principles-salts. These two are morphia and codeia. which may be considered neutral, neitherVarious are the processes which have been possessing acid nor alkaline properties,enumerated for obtaining them. That of Narcotina., the salt originally discovered by;Dr. GREGORY and of Dr. ROBERTSON seems DEROSNE; meconia, by COUERBE and Du<to be considered the best. The first step in BLANC; narceia, by PELLETIER; and, lately, aall eases is the proper solution of opium in fourth, by CourRBE THEBAIA. Narcotina is;water. Muriate of lime is added to a con- found very abundant in many varieties of:centrated solution, by which agent the opium, sometimes as much is found as ofmeconic acid, and the very small quantity morphia in others. The other three princi-of sulphuric acid which exists, are thrown ples, meconia, thebaia, and narceia, exist iJ1;down, so thatmeconate of lime, and a minute very minute quantities. Narcotina is pro-proportion of sulphate of lime, fall to the cured by the action of hot ether upon opium,bottom of the solution, in which muriate of which extracts this principle in a pure state.morphia remains dissolved. To obtain this It may also be precipitated from a solutionmuriate of morphia the solution is then of opium by means of caustic potash, taking;evapo’ated to the crystallizing point. The care not to add more than may be sufficientother alkaloid, the cod&aelig;ia, accompanies the to saturate the free acid. Narcotina is,muriate of morphia and crystallizes with it. soluble in the acids, also in alcohol, ether,-The muriate of morphia is of a dark-brows and the oils, and is crystallizable from themcolour when it is thus obtained, the crystal- all: it has an intensely bitter taste. Meeonia..lized mass is then pressed to get rid of the crystallyzes in prisms, and narceia in silky-colour, and the process of crystallization is crystals: they are obtained from the liquorsrepeated until it becomes perfectly white. of the first pressings of the muriate of mor-The next step is to obtain, from the two phia.mixed mnriates of morphia and codeia, the From the meconate of lime, which I spokemorphia’; this is done by dissolving them in to you of as having been precipitated in thewater, adding ammonia, by which means the decomposition on making morphia, meconie-

292

acid is obtained. Meconate of lime is - dis- solved in concentrated muriatic acid at theboiling point, taking care, however, that, itis not in actual ebullution ;it is then filtered,and is repeatedly treated with muriatic acid,ugtil it. is completly destructible by t.The meconic ’acid will then be obtained iureddish-brown scales, and to be made per-fectly pure and white, it must be uuiteilwith caustic potash, and a meconate ofpotash be- formed, from which it must be re-preatedly crystallized until it is perfectlywhite; it is then decomposed by frequenttreatment with muriatic -acid, and thus isobtained aperfectly, -white and pure meconicacid, which, by boiling, is converted intometameconic acid, by sublimation into pyro-meconic. acid. Meconic acid becomes a

most delicate test for salts, soon producingaa intense-red colour.In the J, ournal de Chimie M&eacute;dicale for Sep-

tember, 1835, will be found the observationsof M. PELLETIER on paraiaorphine and pseu-dQtporphine, but have had no opportunityof meeting with any English chemist whohas gone over the same experiments, and,therefore, I can say little on the subject,but that he states, that paramorphine comesnearer to narcotine than to any other ofthe principles, and pseudomorphine to mor-phia ;.,- ’

In the Journal de Pharmacie for 1833, willbe found ROB&Igrave;QUET’S observations an Dr.be found. ROBIQUET’S observations un Dr.GREGORY’S mode of obtaining morphia, andlikewise a translation of the original paper,describing the operatiou of which I haveventured to give a slight sketch, fully awarethat the chemist only can explain fully allthe steps. M. ROBIQUET has borne out theprefere- ce generally given to the process. Two advantages seem to result from it: the first, that a larger quantity of morphia is ob-tained, and the employment of alcohol, al.

ways so expensive in this country, avoided.M. ROBIQUET observes, that the first trialhe made- convinced him that the opiumemployed-by Dr. GREGORY, was of a superiorquality to that which has been used inFrance for some years, and not only thatours contain more morphia, but that the -proportion af narcotine is considerably less.He expresses his want of information as tothe causes that produce this. whether it bedependent on the species of the poppy, thediversity of climate in which its cultivationis pursued, or upon the mode by which theopium is obtained, or upon some sopbistica-tion by adding the opium obtained from theindigenous plant. In order to satisfy himself,he wrote to Dr. GREGORY for a specimen ofthe opium on which he had operated, andwhich was immediately sent to him, with anexplanation, that, as the muriate of morphiawas only employed by the medical men in

Edinburgh, he did not attempt to obtain themorphia isolated, but in combination withthe muriatic acid; this did not explain the

I difficulty that Mr. ROBIQUET had found inobtaining a a larger ,quantity‘of the morphia.He concludes his paper by stating,that hethinks Dr. GREGORY’S process merits pre-ference from its economy; its simiplicity,andeits facility of execution; but that he is in.clined to believe that the larger quantity ofmorphia obtained is in some mesure owingto the superiority of the opium which is

.found in this country; and he calls upon-theSociety of Pharmacy, Where his report wasj;ead; to return its thanks for the labours ofDr. GREGORY, which merit the approbationof chemists.

LECTURESON THE

PHYSIOLOGY OF THE NERVOUSSYSTEM,

DELIVERED IN 1836, IN THE COLLEGE OF FRANCE.

BY M. MAGENDIE.

LECTURE VI.

Communication of the Ventricles of the Brainwith the Subarachnoid Cavity, and not withthe Cavity of the Serous Sac.&mdash;How theCerebro-spinal Fluid arrives in the LateralVentricles.&mdash;Passage of Blood into theVentricles in Cerebral H&oelig;morrhage.&mdash;Points where the Cerebro-spinal Fluid ex-ists in largest quantity. Imperfect Modeof Teaching Physiology. The Lecturer’sEarly Studies.&mdash;The Process of Vomiting.&mdash;Examination of the Cerebro-spinal Fluidin the Living Animal.

GENTLEMEN :&mdash;You are all,without doubt,acquainted with -the ana.totaical fact, thatthe veins of the choroid plexus terminate inthe veins of GALEN, which latter passs on to the torcular herophili. -- It was at this pointthat BICHAT described a small opening,through which the external a,rachnoi<d. passedinto the ventrieles. - It is certain that wevery frequently find, in this particular place,a kind of fold, formed by the arachnoid,andthat GALEN’S veins, placed: on the median-1 iLe, seem supported hy a little falx of thesame membrane, or species of cul de sac,which in many other cases is absent; but itis impossible to show that-this is-an oi,ening,as BICHAT imagined, or a canal ofcommu-nication between the exrternal arachnoid andthe tining membrane of the ventricular ca-vities ; and the experimeat he quotes ofexploration with a blittit-pointed probe turnsagainst himself, for, -on- the one hand, it isnot true that on opening the canal we arriveat the cavity of the ventricles; and, on theother, it seems extremely probable, if notcertain, that it -is the probe which makesthis pretended opening, and nothing else.