In the above estimate I have omitted the expense of roots, for the reason that the crop will yield as many as are required for planting. The price of roots is about 50 cents per square rod, and if they are in demand, the profit of the crop will be greatly enhanced by selling them at that, or even a lower price.
It will be readily perceived that the culture of peppermint promises no great return of profit in sections of country where land is valuable, and where the expense of production is nearly double what it is in newly-settled districts. It is a fact that in Michigan, and other Western States, the actual expense of production is about one-half less than the above estimate, and the yield is a fourth greater; the greater distance from market, which is usually New York city, not being taken into account, the freight on oil being comparatively trifling. Another consideration in favor of prairie cultivation is, that the mint will endure for years by simply ploughing over the surface every second year, which seems to invigorate the herb, and obviates the necessity of replanting every second or third year, as must be done in older settled localities."
In India the perfumed oils are obtained in the following manner:—The layers of the jasmine, or other flowers, four inches thick and two inches square, are laid on the ground and covered with layers of sesamum or any other oil yielding seed. These are laid about the same thickness as the flowers, over which a second layer of flowers like the fruit is placed. The seed is wetted with water, and the whole mass covered with a sheet, held down at the end and sides by weights, and allowed to remain for eighteen hours in this form. It is now fit for the mill, unless the perfume is desired to be very strong, when the faded flowers are removed and fresh ones put in their place. The seed thus impregnated is ground in the usual way in the mill and the oil expressed, having the scent of the flower. At Ghazipoor the jasmine and bela are chiefly employed; the oil is kept in the dubbers, and sold for about 4s. a seer.
The newest oils afford the finest perfume. In Europe a fixed oil, usually that of the bean or morerja nut, is employed. Cotton is soaked in this, and laid over layers of flowers, the oil being squeezed out so soon as impregnated with perfume. Dr. Johnson thus describes the culture and manufacture:—
Cultivation of Roses.—Around the station of Ghazipoor, there are about 300 biggahs (or about 150 acres) of ground laid out in small detached fields as rose gardens, most carefully protected on all sides by high mud walls and prickly pear fences, to keep out the cattle. These lands, which belong to Zemindars, are planted with rose trees, and are annually let out at so much per biggah for the ground, and so much additional for the rose plants—generally five rupees per biggah, and twenty-five rupees for the rose trees, of which there are 1,000 in each biggah. The additional expense for cultivation would be about eight rupees eight annas; so that for thirty-eight rupees eight annas you have for the season one biggah of 1,000 rose trees.
If the season is good, this biggah of 1,000 rose trees should yield one lac of roses. Purchases for roses are always made at so much per lac. The price of course varies according to the year, and will average from 40 to 70 rupees.
Manufacture of Rose-water.—The rose trees come into flower at the beginning of March, and continue so through April. Early in the morning the flowers are plucked by numbers of men, women, and children, and are conveyed in large bags to the several contracting parties for distillation. The cultivators themselves very rarely manufacture.
The native apparatus for distilling the rose-water is of the simplest construction; it consists of a large copper or iron boiler well tinned, capable of holding from eight to twelve gallons, having a large body with a rather narrow neck, and a mouth about eight inches in diameter; on the top of this is fixed an old dekchee, or cooking vessel, with a hole in the centre to receive the tube or worm.
This tube is composed of two pieces of bamboo, fastened at an acute angle, and it is covered the whole length with a strong binding of corded string, over which is a luting of earth to prevent the vapour from escaping. The small end, about two feet long, is fixed into the hole in the centre of the head, where it is well luted with flower and water. The lower arm or end of the tube is carried down into a long-necked vessel or receiver, called a bhulka. This is placed in a handee of water, which, as it gets hot, is changed. The head of the still is luted on to the body, and the long arm of the tube in the bhulka is also well provided with a cushion of cloth, so as to keep in all vapour. The boiler is let into an earthen furnace, and the whole is ready for operation. There is such a variety of rose-water manufactured in the bazar, and so much that bears the name, which is nothing more than a mixture of sandal oil, that it is impossible to lay down the plan which is adopted. The best rose-water, however, in the bazar, may be computed as bearing the proportion of one thousand roses to a seer of water; this, perhaps, may be considered as the best procurable.
From one thousand roses most generally a seer and a half of rose-water is distilled, and perhaps from this even the attar has been removed. The boiler of the still will hold from eight to twelve or sixteen thousand roses. On eight thousand roses from ten to eleven seers of water will be placed, and eight seers of rose-water will be distilled. This after distillation is placed in a carboy of glass, and is exposed to the sun for several days to become pucka (ripe); it is then stopped with cotton, and has a covering of moist clay put over it; this becoming hard, effectually prevents the scent from escaping. The price of this will be from twelve to sixteen rupees. This is the best that can be procured.
Attar of Roses.—To procure the attar, the roses are put into the still, and the water passes over gradually, as in the case of the rose-water process; after the whole has come over, the rose-water is placed in a large metal basin, which is covered with wetted muslin, tied over to prevent insects or dust getting into it; this vessel is let into the ground about two feet, which has been previously wetted with water, and it is allowed to remain quiet during the whole night. The attar is always made at the beginning of the season, when the nights are cool; in the morning the little film of attar which is formed upon the surface of the rose-water during the night is removed by means of a feather, and it is then carefully placed in a small phial; and, day after day, as the collection is made, it is placed for a short period in the sun, and after a sufficient quantity has been procured, it is poured off clear, and of the color of amber, into small phials. Pure attar, when it has been removed only three or four days, has a pale greenish hue; by keeping it loses this, and in a few weeks' time it becomes of a pale yellow. The first few days distillation does not produce such fine attar as comes off afterwards, in consequence of the dust or little particles of dirt in the still and the tube being mixed with it. This is readily separated, from its sinking to the bottom of the attar, which melts at a temperature of 84 degrees. From one lac of roses it is generally calculated that 180 grains, or one tolah, of attar can be procured; more than this can be obtained if the roses are full-sized, and the nights cold to allow of the congelation. The attar purchased in the bazar is generally adulterated, mixed with sandal oil, or sweet oil; not even the richest native will give the price at which the purest attar alone can be obtained, and the purest attar that is made is sold only to Europeans. During the past year it has been selling from 80 to 90 rupees the tolah; the year before it might have been purchased for 50 rupees.
General Remarks.—Native stills are let out at so much per day or week, and it frequently occurs that the residents prepare some rose-water for their own use as a present to their friends, to secure their being provided with that which is the best. The natives never remove the calices of the rose-flowers, but place the whole into the still as it comes from the garden.
The best plan appears to be to have these removed, as by this means the rose-water may be preserved a longer time, and is not spoiled by the acid smell occasionally met with in the native rose-water. It is usual to calculate 100 bottles to one lac of roses. The rose-water should always be twice distilled; over ten thousand roses water may be put to allow of sixteen or twenty bottles coming out; the following day these twenty bottles are placed over eight thousand more roses, and about eighteen bottles of rose-water are distilled. This may be considered the best to be met with. The attar is so much lighter than the rose-water, that, previous to use, it is better to expose the rose-water to the sun for a few days, to allow of its being well mixed; and rose-water that has been kept six months is always better than that which has recently been made.
At the commencement of the rose season, people from all parts come to make their purchases, and very large quantities are prepared and sold. There are about thirty-six places in the city of Ghazeepore where rose-water is distilled. These people generally put a large quantity of sandal oil into the receiver, the oil is afterwards carefully removed and sold as sandal attar, and the water put into carboys and disposed of as rose-water. At the time of sale a few drops of sandal oil are placed on the neck of the carboy to give it fresh scent, and to many of the natives it appears perfectly immaterial whether the scent arises solely from the sandal oil or from the roses. Large quantities of sandal oil are every year brought up from the south and expended in this way.
6. The chief use the natives appear to make of the rose water, or the sandal attar as they term it, is at the period of their festivals and weddings. It is then distributed largely to the guests as they arrive, and sprinkled with profusion in the apartments. A large quantity of rose water is sold at Benares, and many of the native Rajahs send over to Ghazipoor for its purchase. Most of the rose water, as soon as distilled, is taken away, and after six months from the termination of the manufacture there are not more than four or five places where it is to be met with.
I should consider that the value of the roses sold for the manufacture of rose water may be estimated at 15,000 to 20,000 rupees a year; and from the usual price asked for the rose water, and for which it is sold, I should consider there is a profit of 40,000 rupees. The natives are very fond of using the rose water as medicine, or as a vehicle for other mixtures, and they consume a good deal of the petals for the conserve of roses, or goolcond as they call it.
The roses of Ghazipoor, on the river Ganges, are cultivated in enormous fields of hundreds of acres. The delightful odor from these fields can be scented at seven miles distance on the river. The valuable article of commerce known as attar of roses is made here in the following manner:—On 40 pounds of roses are poured 60 pounds of water, and they are then distilled over a slow fire, and 30 pounds of rose water obtained. This rose water is then poured over 40 pounds of fresh roses, and from that is distilled at most 20 pounds of rose water; this is then exposed to the cold night air, and in the morning a small quantity of oil is found on the surface. From 80 pounds of roses, about 200,000, at the utmost an ounce and a-half of oil is obtained; and even at Ghazipoor it costs 40 rupees (4l.) an ounce.
Five guineas have been often paid for one ounce of attar of roses. The most approved mode of ascertaining its quality is to drop it on a piece of paper; its strength is ascertained by the quickness with which it evaporates, and its worth by its leaving no stains on the paper. The best otto is manufactured at Constantinople.
A volatile oil, erroneously called oil of spikenard, is met with in the shops, which is obtained from a plant which has been named by Dr. Royle, the Andropogon Calamus aromaticus.
The true spikenard of the ancients is supposed to have been obtained from the Nardostachys Jatamansi, a plant of the Valerian family. Dr. Stenhouse describes rather minutely ("Journal Pharm. Soc." vol. iv. p. 276) a species of East India grass oil, said to be the produce of Andropogon Ivaracusa, which he believes to be what is usually called the oil of Namur. It has a very fragrant aromatic odor, slightly resembling that of otto of roses, but not nearly so rich. Its taste is sharp and agreeable, approaching that of oil of lemons. It has a deep yellow color, and contains a good deal of resinous matter.
LEMON GRASS (Andropogon schœnanthus).—This fragrant grass, which is now cultivated very generally throughout the West Indies, in the gardens of the planters, as an elegant and powerful diaphoratic, was doubtless introduced from the East. The active principle of the leaves seems to reside in the essential oil which they contain. Lemon grass oil forms an important article of export from Ceylon, amounting in value to nearly £7,000 annually.
The Andropogon schœnanthus, which may be seen covering all the Kandian hills, is the best possible pasture for cattle—at least as long as it is young. This species of grass is very hard, and grows to the height of seven feet, and sometimes higher, and has a strong but extremely pleasant acid taste. It derives its name from having, when crushed, an odor like that of the lemon, so strong, that after a time it becomes quite heavy and sickening, although grateful and refreshing at first. It covers the hills in patches—those, at least, that are not overgrown with jungle and underwood—and it is to be found nowhere but in the Kandian district. Spontaneous ignition frequently takes place, and the appearance of the burning grass is described as most magnificent. A few days after, from the midst of this parched, blackened, and apparently dead ground, lovely young green shoots begin to arise—for the roots of this extraordinary grass have not even been injured, far less destroyed, by the fire; and in a very short time the whole brow of the mountain is again overspread with tufts of beautiful green waving grass.—("Journal of Agriculture.")
Otto of khuskhus or scented grass, from another species, A. digitalis, obtained at Ulwar in the States of Rajpootanah, was shown at the Great Exhibition in 1851, and Newar oil (from A. maritima) from Agra.
CITRONELLA OIL.—In the Southern province of Ceylon some half dozen estates about Galle are cultivated with citronella grass. The exports of this oil from Ceylon in the last three years have been as follows:—1850, 86,048 oz., valued at £3,344; 1851, 114,959 oz., valued at £3,742; in 1852, 131,780 oz., valued at £2,806.
PATCHOULY.—Under this name are imported into this country the dried foliaceous tops of a strongly odoriferous labiate plant, growing three feet high in India and China, called in Bengalee and Hindu, pucha pat. About 46 cases, of from 50 to 110 lbs. each, were imported from China, by the way of New York, in 1844. The price asked was 6s. per pound. Very little is known of the plant yielding it. Mr. George Porter, late of the island of Pinang, stated that it grows wild there and on the opposite shores of the Malay peninsula. Dr. Wallich says, that it obviously belongs to the family Labiatæ. Viney, in the "French Journal of Pharmacy," suggests that it is the Plectranthus graveolens of R. Brown. It forms a shrub of two or three feet in height. It is the Pogostemon patchouly. The odor of the dried plant is strong and peculiar, and to some persons not agreeable. The dried tops imported into England are a foot or more in length. In India it is used as an ingredient in tobacco for smoking, and for scenting the hair of women. In Europe it is principally used for perfumery purposes, it being a favorite with the French, who import it largely from Bourbon. The Arabs use and export it more than any other nation. Their annual pilgrimship takes up an immense quantity of the leaf. They use it principally for stuffing mattrasses and pillows, and assert that it is very efficacious in preventing contagion and prolonging life. It requires no sort of preparation, being simply gathered and dried in the sun; too much drying, however, is hurtful, inasmuch as it renders the leaf liable to crumble to dust in packing and stowing on board. The characteristic smell of Chinese or Indian ink is owing to an admixture of this plant in its manufacture. M. de Hugel found the plant growing wild near Canton. By distillation it yields a volatile oil, on which the odor and remarkable properties depend. This oil is in common use in India for imparting the peculiar fragrance of the leaf to clothes among the superior classes of natives. The origin of its use is this:—A few years ago, real Indian shawls bore an extravagant price, and purchasers could always distinguish them by their odor; in fact, they were perfumed with Patchouly; the French manufacturers at length discovered this secret, and used to import the plant to perfume articles of their make, and thus palm off homespun shawls as real India! Some people put the dry leaves in a muslin bag, and thus use it as we do lavender, scenting drawers in which linen is kept; this is the best way to use it, as this odor, like musk, is most agreeable when very dilute.—("Gardeners' Chronicle.")
The root of some parasitical plant, under the name of kritz, is used in Cashmere to wash the celebrated shawls, soap is used only for white shawls.
From the flowers of the Bengal quince (Ægle marmemolos) a fragant liquid is distilled in Ceylon known as marmala water, which is much used as a perfume for sprinkling by the natives.
Jasmine oil is distilled from Jasminum sambac and grandiflora.
SAPONACEOUS PLANTS.—Many plants furnish abroad useful substitutes for common soap. The aril which surrounds the seed and the roots of Sapindus Saponaria, an evergreen tree, I have seen used as soap in South America and the West Indies under the name of soap berries. The seed vessels are very acrid, they lather freely in water and will cleanse more linen than thirty times their weight of soap, but in time they corrode or burn the linen. Humboldt says that proceeding along the river Carenicuar, in the Gulf of Cariaco, he saw the Indian women washing their linen with the fruit of this tree, there called the parapara. Some other species of Sapindus and of Gypsophila have similar properties. The bruised leaves and roots of Saponaria officinalis, a British species, form a lather which much resembles that of soap, and is similarly efficacious in removing grease spots. The bark of many species of Quillaia, as Q. saponaria, when beaten between stones, makes a lather which can be used as a substitute for soap, in washing woollens and silk clothes, and to clean colors in dyeing, in Chili and Brazil, but it turns linen yellow. The fruit of Bromelia Pinguin is equally useful. A vegetable soap was prepared some years ago in Jamaica from the leaves of the American aloe (Agave Americana) which was found as detergent as Castile soap for washing linen, and had the superior quality of mixing and forming a lather with salt water as well as fresh. Dr. Robinson, the naturalist, thus describes the process he adopted in 1767, and for which he was awarded a grant by the House of Assembly:—"The lower leaves of the Curaca or Coratoe (Agave karatu) were passed between heavy rollers to express the juice, which, after being strained through a hair cloth, was merely inspissated by the action of the sun, or a slow fire, and cast into balls or casks. The only precaution necessary was to allow no mixture of any unctuous materials, which destroyed the efficacy of the soap. A vegetable soap, which has been found excellent for washing silk, &c. may be thus obtained. To one part of the skin of the Ackee add one and a half part of the Agave karatu, macerated in one part of boiling water for twenty-four hours, and with the extract from this decoction mix four per cent. of rosin. In Brazil, soap is made from the ashes of the bassura or broom plant (Sidu lanceolata) which abounds with alkali. There are also some soap barks and pods of native plants used in China. Several other plants have been employed in different countries as a substitute for soap. The bark of Quillaia saponaria renders water frothy and is used as a detergent by wool dyers. Saponaria vaccana is common in India. The pericarp of Sapindus emarginatus mixed with water froths like soap. Saponaceous berries are found in Java.
The soap-worts to which the genus Sapindus belongs are tropical plants. The fruit of many species of Sapindus is used as a substitute for soap, as Sapindus acuminata, Laurifolius emarginatus and detergens, all East Indian plants.
SECTION VI.
PLANTS YIELDING DRUGS, INCLUDING NARCOTICS AND OTHER COMMON MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES.
The chief plants furnishing the drugs of commerce, and which enter largely into tropical agriculture, are the narcotic plants, especially tobacco, the poppy for opium, and the betel nut and leaf; as masticatories—but there are very many others to which the attention of the cultivator may profitably be directed. I have already trenched so largely upon my space, that I cannot do that justice to the plants coming under this section I could have wished. There are very many, however, of which I must make incidental mention. Some few medicinal plants have been already alluded to in former sections, particularly in that on dye-stuffs, &c.
THE COCA PLANT grows about four or five feet high, with pale bright green leaves, somewhat resembling in shape those of the orange tree. The leaves are picked from the trees three or four times a year, and carefully dried in the shade; they are then packed in small baskets. The greatest quantity is grown about 30 leagues from Cicacica, among the Yunnos on the frontiers of the Yunghos. Some is also cultivated near to Huacaibamba.
The natives in several parts of Peru chew these leaves as Europeans do tobacco, particularly in the mining districts, when at work in the mines or travelling; and such is the sustenance that they derive from them, that they frequently take no food for four or five days. I have often (observes Mr. Stevenson) been assured by them, that whilst they have a good supply of coca they feel neither hunger, thirst, nor fatigue, and that without impairing their health they can remain eight to ten days and nights without sleep. The leaves are almost insipid, but when a small quantity of lime is mixed with them, they have a very agreeable sweet taste. The natives generally carry with them a leather pouch containing coca, and a small calabash holding lime or the ashes of the molle to mix with them.
Cocculus indicus, or Indian berries.—This is the commercial name for the berries or fruit of the Menispermum Cocculus of Linnæus, M. heteroclitum of Roxburgh, Animerta paniculata of Colebrooke, A. Cocculus of Wright and Arnot, and Cocculus suberosus of Decandolle. It is a strong climbing shrub or tree, native of Malabar, Ceylon, and the Eastern Islands. The seeds or drupes contain a bitter poisonous acid, and are used for the purpose of stupefying fish, and, in the form of a black extract, for fraudulently increasing the intoxicating power of malt liquors; one pound of the berries, it is said, will go as far in brewing as a sack of malt. The berry is kidney-shaped, with a white kernel. Whilst the imports in 1846 were but 246 bags, in 1850 they had increased to 2,359 bags of about 1 cwt. each. The price is 19s. to 24s. the cwt.
A crystalline, poisonous, narcotic principle called picrotoxin, has been detected in these seeds, and occasionally employed externally in some cutaneous diseases. Cocculus crispus is used in intermittent fevers and liver complaints.
The annual imports now average 250 tons, and nearly the whole is consumed for illegal purposes by brewers. Though the practice is nominally discountenanced by the Legislature under the penalty of £200 upon the brewer and £500 upon the seller, yet under the recent tariff great encouragement is given to the introduction of these berries, the duty having been reduced from 7s. 6d. to 5s. the cwt.
The capsules and seeds of Xanthoxylum hostile are also employed for the same purpose as cocculus indicus. The bark of Walseria piscidia, a native of the Circar mountains, also intoxicates fish.
About 250 tons of Nux vomica, another species of dried flat seed possessing intoxicating properties, are also imported annually for the same purposes, and they fetch about 6s. to 8s. the cwt.
BETEL LEAF.—Piper Betel, a scandent species of the shrubby evergreen tribe of plants belonging to the pepper family, furnishes the celebrated betel leaf of the Southern Asiatics, in which they enclose a few slices of the areca nut and a little shell lime; this they chew to sweeten the breath, and to keep off the pangs of hunger, and it acts also as a narcotic.
Such is the immense consumption of this masticatory, termed Pan, in the East, that it forms nearly as extensive an article of commerce as that of tobacco in the West. The tax on the leaf forms a considerable portion of the local revenue of Pinang; in 1805, the tax yielded as much as 5,400 dollars.
Rumphius describes six species of this vine, besides several wild and cultivated varieties. It is very easily reared in the Indian islands, but in the countries of the Deccan requires manuring, frequent watering and great care, and in the northern parts of Hindostan it becomes an exotic very difficult to rear. The vine affords leaves fit for use in the second year, and continues to yield for more than thirty, the quantity diminishing as the plants grow older.
ARECA PALM (Acacia Catechu).—This is a fine, slender, graceful tree, rising from 20 to 30 feet high, which, being a native of the East, is found abundant in many of the forests of India, from 16 to 30 degs. of latitude. The principal places of its growth are the Burmese territories, a large province on the Malabar coast called the Concan, and the forests skirting the northern parts of Bengal, under the hills which divide it from Nepaul, the south and west coasts of Ceylon, the south of China, &c., the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and the Eastern islands, it produces fruit at five years old, and continues bearing till about its twenty-fifth year, when it withers and dies. It thrives at a greater distance from the sea, and in more elevated regions than the coco-nut palm. In Prince of Wales Island some hundreds of thousands of these palms are cultivated.
The seeds or nuts form a chief ingredient in the celebrated eastern masticatory called Pan and which seems to owe its stimulating properties to the leaves of the Piper Betel. When prepared for use, the nut is cut into slices and wrapped in the fresh leaves of the betel pepper vine, together with a quantity of quicklime (Chunam) to give it a flavor. The flavor is peculiar, between an herbaceous and an aromatic taste.
All classes, male and female, chew it; they say it sweetens the breath, strengthens the stomach, and preserves the teeth, to which it gives a reddish hue; there is probably less objection to its use than tobacco or opium, and its taste is more pleasant; but, if taken to excess, it will produce stupor like other narcotics, and even intoxication. The nuts grow in large bunches at the top, and when ripe are red and have a beautiful appearance; they resemble the nutmeg in shape and color, but are larger and harder. When gathered they are laid in heaps until the shell be somewhat rotted, and then dried in the sun, after which the process of shelling commences. The trees vary in their yield from 300 to 1,000 nuts, averaging about 14 lbs.; which the cultivators sell at about half a dollar (2s.) a picul of 133 lbs. As these palms are planted usually at the distance of 7½ feet, it follows that the produce of an acre is about 10,841 lbs. The tree bears but once in a year generally, but there are green nuts enough to eat all the year long. Betel nut is a staple article of import into China; 25,000 piculs annually is the amount returned, but there is an immense quantity imported in Chinese junks from Hainan, of which there is no account kept. In the single port of Canton alone, 15,565 piculs were imported in 1844, and about 400 to Ningpo. 3,005 piculs of betel nuts, valued at 8,700 dollars, were imported into Canton in 1850, and as much as 4,000 tons of areca nuts are shipped annually from Ceylon.
The astringent extract obtained from the seeds of the Areca-palm constitutes two (or perhaps more) kinds of the catechu of the shops. According to Dr. Heyne ("Tracts Hist. and Statist. on India"), it is largely procured in Mysore, about Sirah, in the following manner:—
The nuts are taken as they come from the tree and boiled for some hours in an iron vessel. They are then taken out, and the remaining water is inspissated by continual boiling. This process furnishes Kassu, or most astringent terra japonica, which is black and mixed with paddy criu, husks, and other impurities. After the nuts are dried, they are put into a fresh quantity of water, boiled again; and this water being inspissated, like the former, yields the best or dearest kind of catechu, called Coony. It is yellowish brown, has an earthy fracture, and is free from the admixture of foreign bodies.
Most of the betel nuts imported into China come from Java, Singapore, and Pinang. Betel nut is not so generally used in the South of China as among the Southern Islands, and in the north of China it is a luxury, as the pepper does not grow freely there. Formerly there was a considerable trade in betel nuts with the Coromandel coast, from whence the natives brought back manufactured goods and other necessaries in return, but this has ceased for some time. The common price was 20,000 for a dollar. These nuts are seldom imported into England, though they might be of use as a dye in some manufactures.
The natives of the East chew the fruit of Elate sylvestris, (which is something like a wild plum), in the same manner as the areca nut, with the leaf of the betel pepper and quick lime.
The inner wood furnishes a kind of Catechu or Cutch, which contains much tannin and is a powerful astringent. It is obtained by the simple process of boiling the heart of the wood for a few hours, when it assumes the appearance and consistency of tar. It hardens by cooling, and when formed into small squares and dried in the sun is fit for the market.
The produce of Bombay is of uniform texture and of a dark red color. That of Concan and other parts of India is of chocolate color, and marked inside with red streaks.
The analysis of Sir H. Davy gave the following result:—
| Bombay. | Concan. | |
| Tannin | 54.5 | 48.5 |
| Extractive | 34.0 | 36.5 |
| Mucilage | 6.5 | 8.0 |
| Insoluble matters, sand, lime, &c. | 5.0 | 7.0 |
| 100.0 | 100.0 |
Catechu is in extensive use in India for tanning purposes, and of late years it has entirely superseded madder in the calico works of Europe for dyeing a golden coffee-brown, one pound of catechu being found equivalent to six pounds of madder.
Value of the areca nuts exported from Ceylon to the British Colonies and foreign States in the years named:—
| £. | |
| 1839 | 22,956 |
| 1840 | 23,096 |
| 1841 | 22,428 |
| 1842 | 29,222 |
| 1843 | 27,028 |
| 1844 | 20,978 |
| 1845 | 31,836 |
| 1846 | 34,209 |
| 1847 | 35,723 |
| 1848 | 42,482 |
| 1849 | 31,746 |
| 1850 | 42,907 |
| 1851 | 54,846 |
| 1852 | 52,230 |
OPIUM is the concrete inspissated juice of the white poppy, Papaver somniferum and its varieties, obtained by scratching the capsules and collecting the exuding juice. The plant has been long known, and is perhaps one of the earliest described. It is a native of Western Asia and probably also of the South of Europe, but it has been distributed over various countries.
In 1826 the imports of opium into the United Kingdom were 79,829 lbs., of which 28,329 lbs. were consumed in this country. The imports and consumption in subsequent years are shown by the following figures:—
| Imports. lbs. | Consumption. lbs. | |
| 1827 | 113,140 | 17,322 |
| 1830 | 209,076 | 22,668 |
| 1833 | 106,846 | 35,407 |
| 1836 | 130,794 | 38,943 |
| 1839 | 196,247 | 41,682 |
| 1842 | 72,373 | 47,432 |
| 1845 | 259,644 | 38,229 |
| 1848 | 200,019 | 61,055 |
| 1819 | 105,724 | 44,177 |
| 1850 | 126,318 | 42,324 |
| 1851 | 118,024 | 50,682 |
| 1852 | 205,780 | 62,521 |
Few who have not looked into the statistics of this trade, are aware of the enormous consumption of opium all over the world, but chiefly in China and India.
In 1845, 18,792 chests of opium were sent from Calcutta to China, and nearly the same number of the Malwa opium from Bombay and Damaun. The total production of India exported to China, in 1844, was 21,526 chests from Bengal, and 18,321 from Bombay, in all 39,847 chests. The number of persons in China given to the consumption of opium was estimated, in 1837, at three millions, and the average quantity smoked by each individual is about 17½ grains a day. The consumption of Indian opium (independent of Turkey opium) in China has gradually increased from 3,210 chests in 1817, to 9,969 chests in 1827, and about 40,000 chests in 1837, valued at 25,000,000 dollars. Now it has reached 50,000 to 60,000 chests. Notwithstanding severe penalties, imprisonment, temporary banishment, and even death, the number of those who smoke opium has multiplied exceedingly, and the contraband trade in the drug is carried on to so large an extent, that it is to be feared the practice will become general throughout the empire.
According to Mr. E. Thornton's statistics, the production of opium in Bengal has increased cent. per cent. in the last ten years:—
| Chests. | |
| 1840-41 | 17,858 |
| 1841-42 | 18,827 |
| 1842-43 | 18,362 |
| 1843-44 | 15,104 |
| 1844-45 | 18,350 |
| 1845-46 | 21,437 |
| 1846-47 | 21,648 |
| 1847-48 | 30,515 |
| 1848-49 | 36,000 |
The chest is about 140 lbs., so that the production in 1849 was 5,040,000 lbs.
According to the statements annexed to the statistical papers relating to India, the income from the opium monopoly is obtained by two principal means, namely, by a system of allowing the cultivation of the poppy by the natives of British India on account of Government, and by the impost of a heavy duty on opium grown and manufactured in foreign states, but brought in transit to a British port for exportation. The former system obtains in Bengal, the latter in Bombay. According to the statements published, Bengal opium yields a profit of 7s. 6d. per lb., whilst the duty derived in the Bombay presidency is only equal to a surplus of 5s. 8d. per lb. By these means the total revenue realised by the opium monopoly, in Bengal and Bombay, in the year 1849-50 yielded £3,309,637.
Lest objection should be taken to this large annual revenue derived from the cultivation of a drug, the unnatural consumption of which would be suppressed under any other European government, the Court of Directors is very anxious to show the benefit which the country derives from this monopoly; they say "that as the price of opium is almost wholly paid by foreign consumers, and the largest return is obtained with the smallest outlay, the best interests of India would, appear to be consulted." Nobody at all acquainted with the financial resources and the capabilities of any country, would hazard such an assertion. By paying cultivators for the restricted growth of the poppy a price hardly yielding more than the average rate of wages to the common laborer, I do not see in what way the best interests of India are consulted, nor is it clear that the population derives any benefit by being prohibited altogether from manufacturing a drug, which may be brought from another country in transitu on the payment of a heavy duty; unless indeed the Court of Directors are of opinion that in the event of the abolition of the monopoly, the people of the country would have to make up for the loss of the revenue by submitting to some other mode of direct or indirect taxation. There is an inconsistency in the statements of the Court of Directors, which is absolutely amusing. "The free cultivation of the poppy," say the Directors, "would doubtless lead to the larger outlay of capital, and to greater economy in production; but the poppy requires the richest description of land, and its extended cultivation must therefore displace other products." How very considerate on the part of the Directors, but how strongly at variance with facts, since all the fear of displacing other products, and all this appropriation of the richest description of land for other purposes has not prevented the Indian Government, within less than ten years, from more than doubling the cultivation of the poppy and the manufacture of opium. The Directors tell us that the heavy transit duty charged at Bombay is to discourage production, but they do not say whether that discouragement applies, as one would imagine, to those foreign districts which have to pay the transit duty for their production. If so, the assertion is again at variance with facts, because in a subsequent statement they say, "It is stated that neither the price of opium, nor the extent of cultivation in Malwa, has been affected by the great enhancement of the pass duty, which has taken place since 1845."
The following will show that the Company loses no opportunity of applying the screw:—
The subjugation of Scinde afforded opportunity for the levy of a higher rate. Down to the period of that event, a large portion of the opium of Malwa had been conveyed through Scinde to Kurrachee, and thence onward to the Portuguese ports of Diu and Demaun. That route is now closed, and it was reasonably expected that an advance might be made in the charge of passes without the risk of loss to the revenue from a diminished demand for them. The rate was accordingly increased in October, 1843, from 125 to 200 rupees per chest. Upon the principle that it was desirable to fix the price at the highest amount that could be levied, without forcing the trade into other channels, a further increase was made in 1845. when it was determined that the charge should be 300 rupees per chest. Under the like views it was, in 1847, raised to 400 rupees per chest.
The company was perfectly correct, for though the quantity of opium did not increase, the revenue did; and whilst in 1840-41 16,773 chests yielded an income of only 22,046,452 rupees—16,500 chests brought in 1849-50 actually 72,094,835 rupees into the coffers of the Government of Bombay. But the people of India earned not a pice by it, and those richest descriptions of land, which it was so desirable to reserve for other produce than the poppy, remained barren.
The white variety of the poppy is that which is exclusively brought under cultivation for the production of the drug in India and Egypt. For the successful culture of opium a mild climate, plentiful irrigation, a rich soil, and diligent husbandry are indispensable. One acre of well cultivated ground will yield from 70 lbs. to 100 lbs. of "chick," or inspissated juice, the price of which varies from 6s. to 12s. a pound, so that an acre will yield from £20 to £60 worth of opium at one crop. Three pounds of chick will produce one pound of opium, from a third to a fifth of the weight being lost in evaporation. A chief chemical feature, which distinguishes Bengal opium from that of Turkey and Egypt, is the large proportion which the narcotine in the former bears to the morphia, and this proportion is constant in all seasons. It is a matter of importance to ascertain whether the treatment which the juice receives after its collection can influence in any way the amount of alkaloids, or of the other principles in opium. In Turkey it is the custom to beat up the juice with saliva, in Malwa it is immersed as collected in linseed oil, whilst in Bengal it is brought to the required consistence by mere exposure to the air in the shade, though, at the same time, all the watery particles of the juice that will separate are drained off, and used in making Lewah, or inferior opium.
The lands selected for poppy cultivation are generally situated in the vicinity of villages, where the facilities for manuring and irrigation are greatest. In such situations and when the soil is rich, it is frequently the practice with the cultivators to take a crop of Indian corn, maize, or vegetables off the ground during the rainy season, and after the removal of this in September, to dress and manure the ground for the subsequent poppy sowings. In other situations, however, and when the soil is not rich, the poppy crop is the only one taken off the ground during the year, and from the commencement of the rains in June or July, until October, the ground is dressed and cleaned by successive ploughings and weedings, and manured to the extent which the means of the cultivator will permit. In the final preparation of the land in October and November, the soil, after being well loosened and turned up by the plough, is crushed and broken down by the passage of a heavy log of wood over its surface, and it is in this state ready for sowing.
The amount of produce from various lands differs considerably. Under very favorable circumstances of soil and season, as much as twelve or even thirteen seers (26 lbs.) of standard opium may be, obtained from each biggah of 27,225 square feet. "Under less favorable conditions the turn-out may not exceed three or four seers, but the usual amount of produce varies from six to eight seers per biggah.
The chemical examination of different soils in connection with their opium-producing powers, presents a field for profitable and interesting inquiry; nor is the least important part of the investigation that which has reference to variations in the proportions of the alkaloids (especially the morphia and narcotine), which occur in opium produced in various localities. That atmospheric causes exert a certain influence in determining these variations is probable; that they influence the amount of produce, and cause alterations in the physical appearance of the drug, are facts well known to every cultivator: thus the effect of dew is to facilitate the flow of the juice from the wounded capsule, rendering it abundant in quantity, but causing it at the same time to be dark and liquid. An easterly wind (which in India is usually concomitant with a damp state of atmosphere), retards the flow of juice, and renders it dark and liquid. A moderate westerly wind, with dew at night, form the atmospheric conditions most favorable for collection, both as regards the quantity and quality of the exudation. If, however, the westerly wind (which is an extremely dry wind) blow violently, the exudation from the capsules is sparing. Whilst the effect of meteorological phenomena in producing the above results are well marked, their action in altering the relative proportions of the chemical constituents of the juice of the poppy plant is more obscure, and it is highly probable that the chemical composition of the soil plays a most important part in this respect. Dr. O'Shaughnessy is certainly the most accomplished chemist who had ever, in India, turned his attention to the subject, and he has published the results of his analyses of specimens of opium from the different divisions of the Behar Agency, which are worthy of much attention. In the opium from eight divisions of the agency, he found the quantity of morphia to range from 1¾ grains to 3½ grains per cent., and the amount of the narcotine to vary from ¾ grain to 3½ grains per cent., the consistence of the various specimens being between 75 and 79 per cent. In the opium from the Hazareebaugh district (the consistence of the drug being 77), he found 4½ per cent, of morphia, and 4 per cent, narcotine; whilst from a specimen of Patna-garden opium he extracted no less than 10¾ per cent. of morphia, and 6 per cent. of narcotine, the consistence of the drug being 87. With respect to the last specimen, Dr. O'Shaughnessy mentions that the poppies which produced it were irrigated three times during the season, and that no manure was employed upon the soil. It is much to be regretted that these interesting results were not coupled with an analysis of the soils from which the specimens were produced, for to chemical variations in it must be attributed the widely different results recorded above.
Opium as a medicine has been used from the earliest ages; but when it was first resorted to as a luxury, it is impossible to state, though it is not at all improbable that this was coeval with its employment in medicine, for how often do we find that, from having been first administered as a sedative for pain, it has been continued until it has taken the place of the evil. Such must have happened from the earliest ages, as it happens daily in the present; but as a national vice it was not known until the spread of Islamism, when, by the tenets of the Prophet, wine and fermented liquors being prohibited, it came in their stead along with the bang or hasch-schash (made from hemp), coffee, and tobacco. From the Arabs the inhabitants of the Eastern Archipelago most probably imbibed their predilection for opium, although their particular manner of using it has evidently been derived from the Chinese. China, where at present it is so extensively used, cannot be said to have indulged long in the vice. Previous to 1767 the number of chests imported did not exceed 200 yearly; now the average is 50,000 to 60,000. In 1773 the East India Company made their first venture in opium, and in 1796 it was declared a crime to smoke opium.
In different countries we find opium consumed in different ways. In England it is either used in a solid state, made into pills, or a tincture in the shape of laudanum. Insidiously it is given to children under a variety of quack forms, such as "Godfrey's cordial," &c. In India the pure opium is either dissolved in water and so used, or rolled into pills. It is there a common practice to give it to children when very young, by mothers, who require to work and cannot at the same time nurse their offspring. In China it is either smoked or swallowed in the shape of Tye. In Bally it is first adulterated with China paper, and then rolled up with the fibres of a particular kind of plantain. It is then inserted into a hole made at the end of a small bamboo, and smoked. In Java and Sumatra it is often mixed with sugar and the ripe fruit of the plantain. In Turkey it is usually taken in pills, and those who do so, avoid drinking any water after swallowing them, as this is said to produce violent colics; but to make it more palatable, it is sometimes mixed with syrups or thickened juices; in this form, however, it is less intoxicating, and resembles mead. It is then taken with a spoon, or is dried in small cakes, with the words "Mash Allah," or "Word of God," imprinted on them. When the dose of two or three drachms a day no longer produces the beatific intoxication, so eagerly sought by the opiophagi, they mix the opium with corrosive sublimate, increasing the quantity of the latter till it reaches ten grains a day. It then acts as a stimulant. In addition to its being used in the shape of pills, it is frequently mixed with hellebore and hemp, and forms a mixture known by the name of majoon, whose properties are different from that of opium, and may account in a great measure for the want of similitude in the effect of the drug on the Turk and the Chinese.
In Singapore and China the refuse of the chandu, the prepared extract of opium, is all used by the lower classes. This extract, when consumed, leaves a refuse, consisting of charcoal, empyreumatic oil, some of the salts of opium, and a part of the chandu not consumed. Now one ounce of chandu gives nearly half an ounce of this refuse, called Tye, or Tinco. This is smoked and swallowed by the poorer classes, who only pay half the price of chandu for it. When smoked it yields a further refuse called samshing, and this is even used by the still poorer, although it contains a very small quantity of the narcotic principle. Samshing, however, is never smoked, as it cannot furnish any smoke, but is swallowed, and that not unfrequently mixed with arrack.