OCR Text |
Show 524 WHITE POPPY. WHITE POPPY. parated from the alcoholic solution by water. I have also obs served that the watery solution of opium, or the alcoholic, after it has been precipitated by water, does not redden vegetable blues, is not precipitated by acids or alkalies, but is precipitated copiously by Carbonate of potass, muriate and super-nitrate of mercury, oxymuriate of tin, sulphate of copper, sulphate of zinc, acetate of lead, nitrate of silver, and red sulphate of iron. Theprecipitate in the last case was of a dirty brown colour, not resembling those by alkaline or astringent substances. The solutions of opium, especially the watery, are also copiously precipitated by infusion of galls. This precipitate seems to resemble that produced by cinchonin, andto be different from that produced bygelatine. The narcotic virtues of opium are imparted by distilla tion to alcohol and to water, and they are diminished, or entirel y dissi. pated, bylong boiling, roasting, or great age. -'The part of opium whichis not soluble either in water or in alcohol , is albumen, according to Gren; caoutchouc, according to Buchholtz; avirulent glutinous substance, according to Josse; and Proust says it contains wax. From experiments made some years ago, I concluded that it was perfectly similar to the gluten of wheat flour, or fibrine. Long ago it was proposed to separate the resinous parts of opium by the same proce ss that the fibrine of wheat flour is obtained. The fact is, that if Turkey opium be kneadedin a large quantity of water, the solub le parts are removed, andthere remains in the hand an adhesive plastic mass, of a paler colour, not fusible, but becoming ductil e when immersed in hot water, inflammable, impar ting some colour to al. cohol, but not soluble in it. East India opium, treated in the same way, is entirely dissolved or diflused in the water, and leaves no plastic mass in the hand. Upon the whole, it appears that the active constituent of opium, though not perfectly understood , is of a volatile nature, but sometimes fixed byits combinatio n with the other consti- tuents ; that it is soluble both in water and in alcohol; that it is dissipated in the processes recommende d for purifying opium by solution and evaporation ; and that the attempts made by some pharmaceutists, to obtain a preparation of opium which should possess onlyits sedative without its narcotic effects, only suc- cceded in so far as they diminished its activity. By evaporating a watery solution of opium to the consistence dy py ¢ I Q f wa ro 2 . . * of a syrup, Derosne obtained a precipitate, which was increased by diluting it with water. He dissolved this in hot alcohol, from whichit again separated on cooling. Whenpurified by repeated solutions, it crystallized in rectangular prisms with rhomboidal bases, had no taste or smell, was insoluble in cold water, and soluble in 400 parts of boiling water; did not affect vegetable blues, was soluble in 24 parts boiling alcohol, and 110 cold; soluble in hot wther and volatile oils, and separated from them as they cooled; very soluble in all acids, and highly narcotic. These observations are curious, and the experiments deserve to be repeated. MEDICAL USE. The action of opium on the living system has been the subject of the keenest controversy. Some haveasserted that it is a direct sedative, and that it produces no stimulant effects whatever; while others have asserted as strongly, that it is a powerful, and highly diffusible, stimulus, and that the sedative effects, which it undeniably produces, are merely the consequence of the previous excitement. ‘The truth appears to be, that opium is capable of producing a certain degree of excitement, while the sedative effects which always succeed, are incomparably greater than could be producedby the preceding excitement. The stimulant effects are most apparent from small doses. These increase the energy of the mind, the frequency of the pulse, and the heat of the body, excite thirst, render the mouth dry and parched, and diminishall the secretions and excretions, except the cuticular discharge, which they increase. These effects are succeeded by languor and lassitude. In larger doses, the stimulant effects are not so apparent; but the excitability is remarkably diminished, and. confusion of head, vertigo, andsleep, are produced. In excessive doses, it proves a violent narcotic poison, producing headach, vertigo, delirium, and convulsions, accompanied with a very slow pulse, stertorous breathing, and a remarkable degree of insensibility or stupor, terminated by apoplectic death. In one case, where I inspected the body after death, the inner mem- brane of the stomach was remarkably corrugated, and with some inflammation ; but as large doses of sulphate of zinc and flour of mustard had been also taken, no inference can be drawn from these appearances. ‘The bad effects of an over-dose of opium are often prevented by the occurrence of vomiting, and they are best counteracted by making the patient drink freely of acids |