into shallow vats 10 to 15 ft. across, and 6 to 8 in. deep, in which the opium is kneaded until uniform in colour and consistence and tough enough to be formed into cakes of 8 or 10 oz. in weight. These are thrown into a basket containing chaff made from the capsules. They are then rolled in broken leaves and stalks of the poppy and left, with occasional turning, for a week or so, when they become hard enough to bear packing. In October and November they are weighed and sent to market, packed in chests containing as nearly as possible 1 picul = 13311b, the petals and leaves of the poppy being used as packing materials. The production is said to amount to about 20,000 chests annually. The amount of opium revenue collected in India was £10,480,051 in 1881, but in 1907-1908 was only £5,244.986. It is a remarkable fact that the only Indian opium ever seen in England is an occasional sample of the Malwa sort, whilst the government monopoly opium is quite unknown; indeed, the whole of the opium used in medicine in Europe and the United States is obtained from Turkey. This is in some measure due to the fact that Indian opium contains less morphia. It has recently been shown, however, that opium grown in the hilly districts of the Himalayas yields 50% more morphia than that of the plains, and that the deficiency of morphia in the Indian drug is due, in some measure, to the long exposure to the air in a semi-liquid state which it undergoes. In view, therefore, of the probable decline in the Chinese demand, the cultivation of the drug for the European market in the hilly districts of India, and its preparation after the mode adopted in Turkey, viz., by drying the concrete juice as quickly as possible, might be worthy of the consideration of the British government. Persia. The variety of poppy grown in Persia appears to be P. somniferum, var. album, having roundish ovate capsules. It is most largely produced in the districts of Ispahan, Shiraz, Yezd and Khonsar, and to a less extent in those of Khorasan, Kermanshah | and Fars. The Yezd opium is considered better than that of Ispahan, but the strongest or Theriak-e-Arabistani is produced in the neighbourhood of Dizful and Shuster, east of the river Tigris. Good opium is also produced about Sari and Balfarush in the province of Mazanderan. The capsules are incised vertically, or in some districts vertical cuts with diagonal branches are made. The crop is collected in May and June and reaches the ports for exportation between August and January. Although the cultivation of opium in Persia was probably carried on at an earlier date than in India, Persian opium was almost unknown in England until about the year 1870, except in the form of the inferior quality Trebizond," which usually contains only 0-2 to 3% of morphia. This opium is in the form of cylindrical sticks about 6 in. long and half an inch in diameter, wrapped in white waxed or red paper. Since 1870 Persian opium has been largely exported from Bushire and Bandar-Abbas in the Persian Gulf to London, the Straits Settlements and China. At that date the annual yield is said not to have exceeded 2600 cases; but, the profits on opium having about that time attracted attention, all available ground was utilized for this to the exclusion of cereals, cotton and other produce. The result was a severe famine in 1871-1872, which was further aggravated by drought and other circumstances. Notwithstanding the lesson thus taught, the cultivation is being extended every year, especially in Ispahan, which abounds in streams and rivers, an advantage in which Yezd is deficient. About Shiraz, Behbehan and Kermanshah it now occupies much of the land, and has consequently affected the price and growth of cereals. The trade only 300 chests in 1859-gradually increased until 1877, when the Persian opium was much adulterated with glucose. The heavy losses on this inferior opium and the higher prices obtained for the genuine article led to a great improvement in its preparation, and in 1907 the production had increased to 10,000 piculs. About half of the total produce finds its way to the Chinese market, chiefly by sea to Hongkong and the Federated Malay States, although some is carried overland through Bokhara, Khokand and Kashgar; a small quantity is exported by way of Trebizond and Samsun to Constantinople, and about 2000 piculs to Great Britain. The produce of Ispahan and Fars is carried for exportation to Bushire, and that of Khorasan and Kirman and Yezd partly to Bushire and partly to Bandar-Abbas. The Shuster opium is sent partly via Bushire to Muscat for transhipment to Zanzibar, and part is believed to be smuggled into India by way of Baluchistan and Mekran. Smaller quantities grown in Teheran, Tabriz and Kermanshah find their way to Smyrna, where it is said to be mixed with the local drug for the European market, the same practice being carried on at Constantinople with the Persian opium that arrives there from Samsun and Trebizond. For the Chinese market. the opium is usually packed in chests containing 10 shahmans (of 13 lb), so that on arrival it may weigh 1 Chinese picul (=1333 lb), 5 to 10% being allowed for loss by drying. At Ispahan, Shiraz and Yezd the drug, after being dried in the sun; is mixed with oil in the proportion of 6 or 7 lb to 141 lb of opium, with the object, it is said, of suiting the taste of the Chinese-that intended for the London market being now always free from oil.

known as

Persian opium, as met with in the London market, occurs in several forms, the most common being that of brick-shaped pieces. These occur wrapped separately in paper, and weighing 1 lb each; of these 140-160 are packed in a case. Ispahan opium also occurs

in the form of parallelopipeds weighing about 16-20 oz.; sometimes flat circular pieces weighing about 20 oz. are met with. The opium is usually of much firmer and smoother consistence than that of Turkey, of a chocolate-brown colour and cheesy appearance, the pieces bearing evidence of having been beaten into a uniform mass previously to being made into lumps, probably with the addition of Sarcocoll, as it is always harder when dry than Turkey opium. The odour differs but slightly, except in oily specimens, from that of Turkey opium. Great care is now taken to prevent adulteration, and consequently Persian opium can be obtained nearly as rich in morphia as the Turkish drug on the average from 9-12%The greater proportion of the Persian opium imported into London is again exported, a comparatively small quantity being used, chiefly for the manufacture of codeine when Turkey opium is dear, and a little in veterinary practice. According to Dr Reveil, Persian opium usually contains 75 to 84% of matter soluble in water, and some samples contain from 13 to 30% of glucose, probably due to an extract or syrup of raisins added to the paste in the pots in which it is collected, and to which the shining fracture of hard Persian opium is attributed.

Europe.-Experiments made in England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Spain, Germany, and even in Sweden, prove that opium as rich in morphia as that of Eastern countries can be produced in Europe. In 1830 Young, a surgeon at Edinburgh, succeeded in obtaining 56 lb of opium from an acre of poppies, and sold it at 36s. per lb. In France the cultivation has been carried on since 1844 at Clermont-Ferrand by Aubergier. The juice, of which a workman is able to collect about 9.64 troy oz. in a day, is evaporated by artificial heat immediately after collection. The juice yields about one-fourth of its weight of opium, and the percentage of morphia varies according to the variety of poppy used, the purple one giving the best results. By mixing assayed samples he is able to produce an opium containing uniformly 10% of morphia. It is made up in cakes of 50 grammes, but is not produced in sufficient quantity to become an article of wholesale commerce. Some specimens of French opium have been found by Guibourt to yield 22.8% of morphia, being the highest percentage observed as yet in any opium. Experiments made in Germany by Karsten, Jobst and Vulpius have shown that it is possible to obtain in that country opium of excellent quality, containing from 8 to 13% of morphia. It was found that the method yielding the best results was to make incisions in the poppy-heads soon after sunrise, to collect the juice with the finger immediately after incision and evaporate it as speedily as possible, the colour of the opium being lighter and the percentage of morphia_greater than when the juice was allowed to dry on the plant. Cutting through the poppy-head caused the shrivelling up of the young fruit, but the heads which had been carefully incised yielded more seed than those which had not been cut at all. Newly-manured soil was found to act prejudicially on the poppy. The giant variety of poppy yielded most morphia.

The difficulty of obtaining the requisite amount of cheap labour at the exact time it is needed and the uncertainty of the weather render the cultivation of opium too much a matter of speculation for it ever to become a regular crop in most European countries. North America.-In 1865 the cultivation of opium was attempted in Virginia by A. Robertson, and a product was obtained which yielded 4% of morphia. In 1867 H. Black grew opium in Tennessce which contained 10% of morphia. Opium produced in California by H. Flint in 1873 yielded 71% of morphia, equal to 10% in perfectly-dried opium. The expense of cultivation exceeded the returns obtained by its sale. As in Europe, therefore, the high price of labour militates against its production on a large scale. (E. M. H.)

Chemistry of the Opium Alkaloids.—The chemical investigation of opium dates from 1803 when C. Derosne isolated a crystalline compound which he named "opium salt." In 1805 F. W. Sertürner, a German apothecary, independently obtained this same substance, naming it "morphium," and recognized its basic nature; he also isolated an acid, meconic acid. A second paper, published in 1817, was followed in the same year by the identification of a new base, narcotine, by P. J. Robiquet. Thebaine, another alkaloid, was discovered by Thiboumery in 1835; whilst, in 1848, Merck isolated papaverine from commercial narcotine. Subsequent investigations have revealed some twenty or more alkaloids, the more important of which are given in the following table (from A. Pictet, Vegetable Alkaloids):— Morphine Narcotine Papaverine Thebaine Codeine Narceine Cryptopine Pseudomorphine

.9.0

: 5·0%

0.8%

. 0·4%

· 0.3%

0.2%

0.080/

0.02%

Laudanine Lanthopine Protopine. Codamine Iritopine Laudanosine Meconine.

A

• 0.01 % . 0.006

0.003
0.002

. 0.001

• 0.0008%

0.3%

Opium also contains a gum, pectin, a wax, sugar and similar substances, in addition to meconic and lactic acids.

The alkaloids fall into two chemical groups: (1) derivatives of isoquinoline, including papaverine, narcotine, gnoscopine (racemic narcotine), narceine, laudanosine, laudanine, cotarnine, hydrocotarnine (the last two do not occur in opium), and (2) derivatives of phenanthrene, including morphine, codeine, thebaine. The constitutions of the first series have been determined; of the second they are still uncertain.

Papaverine, CaHNO, was investigated by G. Goldschmiedt (Monats., 1883-1889), who determined its constitution (formula I., below) by a study of its oxidation products, showing that papaveraldine, which it gives with potassium permanganate, is a tetramethoxybenzoylisoquinoline. Its synthesis, and also that of laudanosine, CnH2NO, which is N-methyltetrahydropapaverine, was effected in 1909 by F. L. Pyman (Jour. Chem. Soc., 95, P. 1610) and by A. Pictet and Mlle M. Finkelstein (Compt. rend., 1909, 148, p. 925). Laudanine, CwHNO, is very similar to laudanosine, differing in having three methoxy groups and one hydroxy instead of four methoxy.

Narcotine, CaHNO, has been principally investigated by A. Matthiessen and G. C. Foster, and by W. Roser (Ann., 1888, 249, p. 156; 1889, 254, p. 334.) By hydrolysis it yields opianic acid, CHOS, and hydrocotarnine, CHINO; reduction gives meconine, CHO4, and hydrocotarnine; whilst oxidation gives opianic acid and cotarnine, CHINO. Narcotine was shown to be methoxyhydrastine (II.) (hydrastine, the alkaloid of Golden seal, Hydrastis canadensis, was solved by E. Schmidt, M. Freund, and P. Fritsch) and cotarnine to be III.; the latter has been synthesized by A. H. Salway (Jour. Chem. Soc., 1910, 97, p. 1208). Narceine, CaH NO, obtained by the action of potash on the methyl iodide of narcotine, is probably IV. (see Pyman, loc. cit. pp. 1266, 1738; M. Freund and P. Oppenheim, Ber., 1909, 42, p. 1084). The proprietary drug stypticin is cotarnine hydrochloride, and "styptol" cotarnine phthalate; "antispasmin' is a sodium narceine combined with sodium salicylate, and "narcyl" narceine ethyl hydrochloride.

CH2
¡CH2 MeO

JNMe O'C

MeO CH-CH

ILNarcotine

CH2
CH2

NHMe

CHO
MeO CHO
III. Cotarnine

The chemistry of morphine, codeine and thebaine is exceedingly complicated, and the literature enormous. That these alkaloids are closely related may be suspected from their empirical formulae, viz.morphine = CH, NO3, Codeine CisHaNO2, thebaine = CHNO. As a matter of fact, Grimaux, in 1881, showed codeine to be a methylmorphine, and in 1903 Ach and L. Knorr (Ber., 36, D3067) obtained identical substances, viz. thebenine and morphothebaine, from both codeine and thebaine, thereby establishing their connexion. Our knowledge of the constitution of these alkaloids largely depends on the researches of M. Freund, E. Vongerichten, L. Knorr and R. Pschorr. The presence of the phenanthrene nucleus and the chain system CH,N-C.C⋅ follows from the fact that these alkaloids, by appropriate treatment, yield a substituted phenanthrene and also dimethylaminoethanol (CH2)2N-CH2·CH2OH. Formulae have been proposed by Pschorr and Knorr explaining this and other decompositions (in Pschorr's formula the morphine ring system is a fusion of a phenanthrene and pyridine nucleus); another formula, containing a fusion of a phenanthrene with a pyrrol ring, was proposed by Bucherer in 1907. The problem is discussed by Pschorr and Einbeck (Ber., 1907, 40, p. 1980), and by Knorr and Hörlein (ibid. p. 2042); see also Ann. Reps. Chem. Soc.

Morphine, or morphia, crystallizes in prisms with one molecule of water; it is soluble in 1000 parts of cold water and in 160 of boiling water, and may be crystallized from alcohol; it is almost insoluble in ether and chloroform. It has an alkaline reaction and behaves as a tertiary, monacid base; its salts are soluble in water and alcohol. The official hydrochloride, CHNO, HC1+3H2O, forms delicate needles. Distilled with zinc dust morphine yields phenanthrene, pyridine and quinoline; dehydration gives, under certain conditions, apomorphine, CHNO2, a white amorphous substance, readily soluble in alcohol, either and chloroform. The drug "heroin" is a diacetylmorphine hydrochloride. Codeine, or codeia, crystallizes in orthorhombic prisms with one molecule of water: it is readily soluble in alcohol, ether and chloroform. Thebaine forms silvery plates, melting at 193°. (C. E.*) Medicine. Of the opium alkaloids only morphine and codeine are used to any extent in medicine. Thebaine is not so used, but is an important and sometimes very dangerous constituent of the various opium preparations, which are still largely

employed, despite the complexity and inconstant composition of the drug. Of the other alkaloids narceine is hypnotic, like morphine and codeine, whilst thebaine, papaverine and narcotine have an action which resembles that of strychnine, and is, generally speaking, undesirable or dangerous if at all well marked. A drug of so complex a composition as opium is necessarily incompatible with a large number of substances. Tannic acid, for instance, precipitates codeine as a tannate, salts of many of the heavy metals form precipitates of meconates and sulphates, whilst the various alkalis, alkaline carbonates and ammonia precipitate the important alkaloids.

The pharmacology of opium differs from that of morphine (q.v.) opium and morphine is due to the presence in the former of thein a few particulars. The chief difference between the action of baine, which readily affects the more irritable spinal cord of very the spinal cord, and, just as strychnine is dangerous when given to young children. In infants especially opium acts markedly upon young children, so opium, because of the strychnine-like alkaloid it contains, should never be administered, under any circumstances or in any dose, to children under one year of age. action from that of morphine. It often relieves hunger, by arresting When given by the mouth, opium has a somewhat different the secretion of gastric juice and the movements of the stomach and bowel, and it frequently upsets digestion from the same cause. Often it relieves vomiting, though in a few persons it may cause vomiting, but in far less degree than apomorphine, which is a powerful' emetic. Opium has a more marked diaphoretic action than morphine, and is much less certain as a hypnotic and analgesic. There are a few therapeutic indications for the use of opium rather than morphine, but they are far less important than those which instance, opium is still preferred by the majority of practitioners, make the opposite demand. In some abdominal conditions, for though certainly not in gastric cases, where morphine gives the relief for which opium often increases the need, owing to the irritant action of some of its constituents. Opium is often preferred to morphine in cases of diabetes, where prolonged administration is required. In such cases the soporific action is not that which is sought, and so opium is preferable. A Dover's powder, also, is hardly to be surpassed in the early stages of a bad cold in the head or bronchitis. Ten grains taken at bedtime will often give sleep, cause free diaphoresis and quieten the entire nervous system in such cases. The tincture often known as paregoric is also largely used in bronchial conditions, and morphine shows no sign of displacing it in favour. Opium rather than morphine is also usually employed to relieve the pain of haemorrhoids or fissure of the rectum. This practice is, however, obsolescent.

The alkaloid thebaine may here be referred to, as it is not used separately in medicine.. Crum Brown and Fraser of Edinburgh showed that, whilst thebaine acts like strychnine, methyl and ethyl thebaine act like curara, paralysing the terminals of motor nerves. At present we say of such a substance as thebaine, "it acts on the anterior cornua of grey matter in the spinal cord," but why on them and not elsewhere we do not know.

Toxicology.-Under this heading must be considered acute poisoning by opium, and the chronic poisoning seen in those who eat or smoke the drug. Chronic opium poisoning by the taking of laudanum-as in the familiar case of De Quincey-need not be considered here, as the hypodermic injection of morphine has almost entirely supplanted it.

The acute poisoning presents a series of symptoms which are only with difficulty to be distinguished from those produced by alcohol, by cerebral haemorrhage and by several other morbid conditions. The differential diagnosis is of the highest importance, but very frequently time alone will furnish a sufficient criterion. The patient who has swallowed a toxic or lethal dose of laudanum, for instance, usually passes at once into the narcotic state, without any prior excitement. Intense drowsiness yields to sleep and coma which ends in death from failure of the respiration. This last is the cardinal fact in determining treatment. The comatose patient has a cold and clammy skin, livid lips and ear-tips-a grave sign-and "pin-point pupils." The heart's action is feeble, the pulse being small, irregular and often abnormally slow. The action on the circulation is largely secondary, however, to the all-important action of opium on the respiratory centre in the medulla oblongata. The centre is directly poisoned by the circulation through it of opium-containing blood, and the patient's breathing becomes progressively slower, shallower and more irregular until finally it ceases altogether.

In treating acute opium poisoning the first proceeding is to empty the stomach. For this purpose the best emetic is apomorphine, which may be injected subcutaneously in a dose of about one-tenth of a grain. But apomorphine is not always to be obtained, and even if it be administered it may fail, since the gastric wall is often therefore better to wash out the stomach, and this should be done, paralysed in opium poisoning, so that no emetic can act. if possible, with a solution containing about ten grains of salt to each ounce of water. This must be repeated at intervals of about

It is

is believed to have diminished by about one-third.

For smoking the Chinese use an extract of opium known as prepared opium or chandoo, and a cheaper preparation is made from 60% used opium known as " opium dross" and 40% native opium. This latter is chiefly used by the poorer classes. The process of preparation is thus described by Hugh M'Callum, government analyst at Hong-Kong:

Opium-eating. Opium, like many other poisons, produces after a time a less effect if frequently administered as a medicine, so that the dose has to be constantly increased to produce the same result on those who take it habitually. When it is used to relieve pain or diarrhoea, if the dose be not taken at the usual time the symptoms of the disease recur with such violence that the remedy is speedily resorted to as the only means of relief, and thus the habit is exceedingly difficult to break off. Opiumeating is chiefly practised in Asia Minor, Persia and India. Opinions differ widely as to the injurious effect of the habit; the weight of evidence appears, however, to indicate that it is much more deleterious than opium-smoking.

The following statistics collected by Vincent Richards regarding Balasor in Orissa throw some light on the influence of this practice on the health. He estimates that I in every 12 or 14 of the population uses the drug, and that the habit is increasing. Of the 613 opium-eaters examined by him he found that the average age at which the habit was commenced was 20 to 26 years for men and 24 to 30 years for women. Of this number 143 had taken the drug for from 10 to 20 years, 62 for from 20 to 30 years and 38 for more than 30 years. The majority took their opium twice daily, morning and evening, the quantity taken varying from 2 to 46 grains daily, large doses being the exception, and the average 5 to 7 grains daily. The dose, when large, had been increased from the beginning; when small, there had usually been no increase at all. The causes which first led to the increase of the drug were disease, example and a belief in its aphrodisiac powers. The diseases for which it was chiefly taken were malarial fever, dysentery, diarrhoea, spitting of blood, rheumatism and elephantiasis. A number began to take it in the famine year, 1866, as it enabled them to exist on less food and mitigated their sufferings; others used it to enable them to undergo fatigue and to make long journeys. Richards concludes that the excessive use of opium by the agricultural classes, who are the chief consumers in Orissa, is very rare indeed. Its moderate use may be and is indulged in for years without producing any decided or appreciable ill effect except weakening the reproductive powers, the average number of the children of opium-caters being 111 after 11 years of married life. It compares favourably as regards crime and insanity with intoxicating drinks, the inhabitants of Balasor being a particularly law-abiding race, and the insane forming only 0.0069% of the population. Dr W. Dymock of Bombay, speaking of western India, concurs in Richards's opinion regarding the moderate use of the drug. He believes that excessive indulgence in it is confined to a comparatively small number of the wealthier classes of the community. Dr Moore's experience of Rajputana strongly supports the same views. It seems probable that violent physical exercise may counteract in great measure the deleterious effect of opium and prevent it from retarding the respiration, and that in such cases the beneficial effects are obtained without the noxious results which would accrue from its use to those engaged in sedentary pursuits. There is no doubt that the spread of the practice is connected with the ban imposed in Mohammedan countries on the use of alcoholic beverages, and to some extent with the long religious fasts of the Buddhists, Hindus and Moslems, in which opium is used to allay hunger.

To break off the habit of opium-cating is exceedingly difficult, and can be effected only by actual external restraint, or the strongest effort of a powerful will, especially if the dose has been gradually

increased.

Opium-smoking.-This is chiefly practised by the inhabitants of China and the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and in countries where Chinese are largely employed. Opium-smoking began in China in the 17th century. Foreign opium was first imported by the Portuguese (early 18th century). In 1906 it was

"The opium is removed from its covering of leaves, &c., moistened with a little water, and allowed to stand for about fourteen hours; it is then divided into pans, 2 balls of opium and about 10 pints of water going to each pan; it is now boiled and stirred occasionally until a uniform mixture having the consistence of a thin paste is obtained. This operation takes from five to six hours. The paste is at once transferred to a larger pan and cold water added to about 3 gallons, covered and allowed to stand for from fourteen to fifteen hours. A bunch of tang sani' (lamp-wick, the pith of Eriocaulon canted, when a rich, clear, brown fluid is thus drawn off, and filtered or Scirpus) is then inserted well into the mass, and the pan slightly through chi mui' (paper made from bamboo fibre). The residue is removed to a calico filter and thoroughly washed with boiling water, the wash water being reboiled and used time after time. The last washing is done with pure water; these washings are used in the next day's boiling. "The residues on the calico filters are transferred to a large one of the same material and well pressed. This insoluble residue, called who finds a ready market for it in Canton, where it is used for 'nai chai' (opium dirt), is the perquisite of the head boiling coolie, adulterating, or rather in manufacturing, the moist inferior kinds of prepared opium. The filtrate or opium solution is concentrated by evaporation at the boiling point, with occasional stirring until of a proper consistence, the time required being from three to four hours; it is then removed from the fire and stirred with great vigour till cold, the cooling being accelerated by coolies with large fans. When quite cold it is taken to the hong and kept there for some months before it is considered in prime condition for smoking. and is called boiled or prepared opium. In this state it is largely As thus prepared it has the consistence of a thin treacly extract, exported from China to America, Australia, &c., being carefully scaled up in small pots having the name of the maker (i.e. hong)

4

on each.

"The Chinese recognize the following grades of opium: (1) raw opium,' as imported from India; (2) prepared opium,' opium made as above; (3) opium dross,' the scrapings from the prepared opium; a Chinese doctor stated lately at a coroner's opium pipe; this is reboiled and manufactured as a second-class inquest on a case of poisoning that it was more poisonous than the ordinary prepared opium; (4) nai chai' (opium dirt), the insoluble residue left on exhausting the raw opium thoroughly with water. The opium is sent every day from the hong (i.e. shop or firm) to the boiling-house, the previous day's boiling being then returned to the hong. The average quantity boiled each day is from six to eight chests of Patna opium, this being the only kind used."

By this process of preparation a considerable portion of the nar cotine, caoutchouc, resin, oil or fatty and insoluble matters are removed, and the prolonged boiling, evaporating and baking over a naked fire tend to lessen the amount of alkaloids present in the extract. The only alkaloids likely to remain in the prepared opium, and capable of producing well-marked physiological results, are morphine, codeine and narceine. Morphine, in the pure state, can be sublimed, but codeine and narccine are said not to give a sublimate. Even if sublimed in smoking opium, morphine would, in M'Callum's opinion, probably be deposited in the pipe before it reached the mouth of the smoker. The bitter taste of morphine is not noticeable when smoking opium, and it is therefore possible that the pleasure derived from smoking the drug is due to some product formed during combustion. This supposition is rendered probable by the fact that the opiums most prized by smokers are not those containing most morphine, and that the quality is judged by the amount of soluble matter in the opium, by its tenacity or "touch," and by peculiarities of aroma-the Indian opium, especially the Patna kind, bearing much the same relation to the Chinese and Persian drug that champagne does to vin ordinaire. Opiumsmoking is thus described by Theo. Sampson of Canton:

"The smoker, lying on his side, with his face towards the tray and his head resting on a high hard pillow (sometimes made of earthenware, but more frequently of bamboo covered with leather), takes the pipe in his hand; with the other hand he takes a dipper and puts the sharp end of it into the opium, which is of a treacly consistency. Twisting it round and round he gets a large drop of the fluid to adhere to the dipper; still twisting it round to prevent it falling he brings the drop over the flame of the lamp, and twirling dexterity. The opium must not be burnt or made too dry, but it round and round he roasts it; all this is done with acquired roasted gently till it looks like burnt worsted: every now and then he takes it away from the flame and rolls it (still on the end of the

dipper) on the flat surface of the bowl. When it is roasted and rolled to his satisfaction he gently heats the centre of the bowl, where there is a small orifice; then he quickly thrusts the end of the dipper into the orifice, twirls it round smartly and withdraws it; if this is properly done, the opium (now about the size of a grain of hemp-seed or a little larger) is left adhering to the bowl immediately over the orifice. It is now ready for smoking. "The smoker assumes a comfortable attitude (lying down of course) at a proper distance from the lamp. He now puts the stem to his lips, and holds the bowl over the lamp. The heat causes the opium to frizzle, and the smoker takes three or four long inhalations, all the time using the dipper to bring every particle of the opium to the orifice as it burns away, but not taking his lips from the end of the stem, or the opium pellet from the lamp till all is finished. Then he uses the flattened end of the dipper to scrape away any little residue there may be left around the orifice, and proceeds to prepare another pipe. The preparations occupy from five to ten minutes, and the actual smoking about thirty seconds. The smoke is swallowed, and is exhaled through both the mouth and the nose."

с

FIG. 3. Opium-smoking Apparatus. a, pipe; b, dipper; c, lamp. So far as can be gathered from the conflicting statements published on the subject, opium-smoking may be regarded much in the same light as the use of alcoholic stimulants. To the great majority of smokers who use it moderately it appears to act as a stimulant, and to enable them to undergo great fatigue and to go for a considerable time with little or no food. According to the reports on the subject, when the smoker has plenty of active work it appears to be no more injurious than smoking tobacco. When carried to excess it becomes an inveterate habit; but this happens chiefly in individuals of weak will-power, who would just as easily become the victims of intoxicating drinks, and who are practically moral imbeciles, often addicted also to other forms of depravity. The effect in bad cases is to cause loss of appetite, a leaden pallor of the skin, and a degree of leanness so excessive as to make its victims appear like living skeletons. All inclination for exertion becomes gradually lost, business is neglected, and certain ruin to the smoker follows. There can be no doubt that the use of the drug is opposed by all thinking Chinese who are not pecuniarily interested in the opium trade or cultivation, for several reasons, among which may be mentioned the drain of bullion from the country, the decrease of population, the liability to famine through the cultivation of opium where cereals should be grown, and the corruption of state officials. See Pharmaceutical Journ. [1] xi. p. 269, xiv. p. 395; [2] x. p. 434; Impey, Report on Malwa Opium (Bombay, 1848); Report on Trade of Hankow (1869); New Remedies (1876), p. 229; Pharmacographia (1879), p. 42; Journal of the Society of Arts (1882); The Friend of China (1883), &c. Report of the Straits Settlements, Federated Malay States Opium Commission (1908), App. xxiii. and xxiv.; Allen, Commercial Organic Analysis, vol. iii. pt. iv. p. 355: Frank Browne, Report on Opium (Hong-Kong, 1908); G. Watt, Dictionary of the Economic Products of India (1892); H. Moissan, Comptes rendus, of the 5th of December 1892, iv. p. 33: Lalande, Archives de médicine navale, t. 1. (1890); International Opium Commission (1909), vol. ii. “* Report of the Delegations"; Squire, Companion to the British Pharmacopeia (1908) (18th edition). (E. M. H.) OPLADEN, a town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine Province, 10 m. N.E. from Cologne by the railway to Elberfeld and at the junction of lines to Speldorf and Bonn. Pop. (1905) 6338. It has an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church. It has dyeing works, and manufactures of dynamite, indigó products and railway plant. Before passing to Prussia, Opladen belonged to the duchy of Berg.

OPON, a town of the province of Cebu, Philippine Islands, on the small island of Mactan (area about 45 sq. m.), which is separated from the island of Cebu by a channel only about I m. wide. Pop (1903), after the annexation of Cordova and Santa Rosa, 20,166. There are forty-four barrios, or villages, in the town, and three of these had in 1903 more than 1000 inhabitants each. The language is Visayan. Opon is a shipping and commercial suburb of Cebu city, the harbour of which is sheltered by Mactan Island. The town has large groves of coco-nut trees, and its principal industries are the cultivation of Indian corn and maguey and fishing. In the N.E. part of the

town is a monument to Magellan, who discovered the Philippines in March 1521, and was slain here by the natives late in the following month.

OPORTO (ie. o porto, "the port "), the second city of the kingdom of Portugal, the capital of the district of Oporto and formerly of Entre-Douro-e-Minho; on both banks of the river Douro, about 3 m. from its mouth, in 41° 8' N. and 8° 37′ W. Pop. (1900) 167,955. In Portuguese the definite article is uncompounded in the name of the city, which in strict accuracy should always be written Porto; the form Oporto has, however, been stereotyped by long usage in English and in some other European languages. The part of the city south of the Douro is known as Villa Nova de Gaia. Oporto is the see of a bishop, in the archiepiscopal province of Braga. It is the true capital of northern Portugal, and the commercial and political rival of Lisbon, in much the same way as Barcelona (q.v.) is the rival of Madrid. Three main railway lines meet here-from Lisbon, from Valença do Minho on the northern frontier, and from Barca d'Alva on the north-western frontier. The Valença line has branches to Guimarães and Braga, and affords access to Corunna and other cities of north-western Spain; the Barca d'Alva line has a branch to Mirandella and communicates with Madrid via Salamanca. Oporto is built chiefly on the north or right bank of the Douro; its principal suburbs are Bomfim on the E., Monte Pedral and Paranhos on the N., Villar Bicalho, Lordello and São João da Foz on the W., Ramalde, Villarinha, Matozinhos, Leça da Palmeira and the port of Leixões on the N.W. The mouth of the river is obstructed by a sandy spit of land which has been enlarged by the deposits of silt constantly washed down by the swift current; on the north side of this bar is a narrow channel varying in depth from 16 ft. to 19 ft. A fort in São João da Foz protects the entrance, and there is a lighthouse on a rock outside the bar. As large vessels cannot enter the river, a harbour of refuge has been constructed at Leixoes (q.v.).

The approach to Oporto up the winding and fjord-like estuary is one of singular beauty. On the north the streets rise in terraces up the steep bank, built in many cases of granite overlaid with plaster, so that white is the prevailing colour of the city; on the south are the hamlets of Gaia and Furada, and the red-tiled wine lodges of Villa Nova de Gaia, in which vast quantities of "port" are manufactured and stored. The architecture of the houses and public buildings is often rather Oriental than European in appearance. There are numerous parks and gardens, especially on the outskirts of the city, in which palms, oranges and aloes grow side by side with the flowers and fruits of northern Europe, for the climate is mild and very equable, the mean temperatures for January and July-the coldest and the hottest months-being respectively about 50° and 70°. The Douro is at all seasons crowded with shipping, chiefly small steamers and large sailing vessels. The design of some of the native craft is peculiar-among them may be mentioned the highprowed canoe-like fishing boats, the rascas with their three lateen sails, and the barcos rabello, flat-bottomed barges with huge rudders, used for the conveyance of wine down stream. Two remarkable iron bridges, the Maria Pia and the Dom Luiz I., span the river. The first was built by Messrs Eiffel & Company of Paris in 1876-1877; it rests on a granite substructure and carries the Lisbon railway line across the Douro ravine at a height of 200 ft. The second, constructed in 1881-1885 by a Belgian firm, has two decks or roadways, one 33 ft., the other 200 ft. above the usual water-level; its arch, one of the largest in Europe, has a span of 560 ft. and is supported by two massive granite towers. The Douro is liable in winter to sudden and violent floods; in 1909-1910 the water rose 40 ft. at Oporto, where it is confined in a deep and narrow bed.

Though parts of the city are modern or have been modernized, the older quarters in the east are extremely picturesque, with their steep and narrow lanes overshadowed by lofty balconied houses. Overcrowding and dirt are common, for the density of population is nearly 13,000 per sq. m., or greater than in any other city of Portugal. Until the early years of the 20th century, when