[361] Ueber die Wirkung des Nicotines auf den thierischen Organismus, Berlin, 1868.
[362] Beiträge zur Physiologie der Darmbewegung, Leipsic, 1866.
§ 335. Fatal Dose.—The fatal dose for dogs is from 1⁄2 to 2 drops; for rabbits, a quarter of a drop; for an adult not accustomed to tobacco the lethal dose is probably 6 mgrms.
§ 336. Post-mortem Appearances.—There seem to be no appearances so distinctive as to be justly ascribed to nicotine or tobacco-poisoning and no other.
A more or less fluid condition of the blood, and, generally, the signs of death by the lungs, are those most frequently found. In tobacco-poisoning, when the leaves themselves have been swallowed, there may be some inflammatory redness of the stomach and intestine.
§ 337. Separation of Nicotine from Organic Matters, &c.—The process for the isolation of nicotine is precisely that used for coniine (see p. 269). It appears that it is unaltered by putrefaction, and may be separated and recognised by appropriate means a long time after death. Orfila detected it in an animal two or three months after death; Melsens discovered the alkaloid unmistakably in the tongues of two dogs, which had been buried in a vessel filled with earth for seven years; and it has been found, by several experiments, in animals buried for shorter periods. Nicotine should always be looked for in the tongue and mucous membrane of the mouth, as well as in the usual viscera. The case may be much complicated if the person supposed to be poisoned should have been a smoker; for the defence would naturally be that there had been either excessive smoking or chewing, or even swallowing accidentally a quid of tobacco.[363] A ptomaine has been discovered similar to nicotine. Wolckenhaar separated also an alkaloid not unlike nicotine from the corpse of a woman addicted to intemperate habits; but this base was not poisonous, nor did it give any crystals when an ethereal solution was added to an ether solution of iodine. It will be well always to support the chemical evidence by tests on animal life, since the intensely poisonous action of nicotine seems not to be shared by the nicotine-like ptomaines.
[363] In an experiment of Dragendorff’s, nicotine is said to have been detected in 35 grms. of the saliva of a person who had half an hour previously smoked a cigar.
[364] See “The Alkaloid from Piturie,” by Prof. Leversidge, Chem. News, March 18 and 25, 1881.
§ 338. Piturie (C6H8N) is a liquid, nicotine-like alkaloid, obtained from the Duboisia hopwoodii, a small shrub or tree belonging to the natural order Solanaceæ, indigenous in Australia. The natives mix piturie leaves with ashes from some other plant, and chew them. Piturie is obtained by extracting the plant with boiling water acidified with sulphuric acid, concentrating the liquid by evaporation, and then alkalising and distilling with caustic soda, and receiving the distillate in hydrochloric acid. The solution of the hydrochlorate is afterwards alkalised and shaken up with ether, which readily dissolves out the piturie. The ether solution of piturie is evaporated to dryness in a current of hydrogen, and the crude piturie purified by distillation in hydrogen, or by changing it into its salts, and again recovering, &c. It is clear and colourless when pure and fresh, but becomes yellow or brown when exposed to air and light. It boils and distils at 243° to 244°. It is soluble in all proportions in alcohol, water, and ether; its taste is acrid and pungent; it is volatile at ordinary temperatures, causing white fumes with hydrochloric acid; it is very irritating to the mucous membranes, having a smell like nicotine at first, and then, when it becomes browner, like pyridine. It forms salts with acids, but the acetate, sulphate, and hydrochlorate are varnish-like films having no trace of crystallisation; the oxalate is a crystalline salt. Piturie gives precipitates with mercuric chloride, cupric sulphate, gold chloride, mercur-potassic iodide, tannin, and an alcoholic solution of iodine. If an ethereal solution of iodine is added to an ethereal solution of piturie, a precipitate of yellowish-red needles, readily soluble in alcohol, is deposited. The iodine compound melts at 110°, while the iodine compound of nicotine melts at 100°. Piturie is distinguished from coniine by its aqueous solution not becoming turbid either on heating or on the addition of chlorine water; it differs from picoline in specific gravity, picoline being ·9613 specific gravity at 0°, and piturie sinking in water; it differs from aniline by not being coloured by chlorinated lime. From nicotine it has several distinguishing marks, one of the best being that it does not change colour on warming with hydrochloric acid and the addition to the mixture afterwards of a little nitric acid. The physiological action seems to be but little different from that of nicotine. It is, of course, poisonous, but as yet has no forensic importance.
§ 339. In 1851 Stenhouse[365] separated a poisonous volatile alkaloid from Spartium scoparium, the common broom, to which he gave the name of sparteine. At the same time a crystalline non-poisonous substance, scoparin, was discovered.
[365] Phil. Trans., 1851.
Sparteine is separated from the plant by extraction with sulphuric acid holding water, and then alkalising the acid solution and distilling: it has the formula (C15H26N2), and belongs to the class of tertiary diamines. It is a clear, thick, oily substance, scarcely soluble in water, to which it imparts a strong, alkaline reaction; it is soluble in alcohol, in ether, and chloroform; insoluble in benzene and in petroleum; it boils at 288°. Sparteine neutralises acids fully, but the oxalate is the only one which can be readily obtained in crystals. It forms crystalline salts with platinic chloride, with gold chloride, with mercuric chloride, and with zinc chloride. The picrate is an especially beautiful salt, crystallising in long needles, which, when dried and heated, explode. On sealing sparteine up in a tube with ethyl iodide and alcohol, and heating to 100° for an hour, ethyl sparteine iodide separates in long, needle-like crystals, which are somewhat insoluble in cold alcohol.
Effect on Animals.—A single drop kills a rabbit; the symptoms are similar to those produced by nicotine, but the pupils are dilated.[366]
[366] To the nicotine group, gelsemine (C24H28N2O4) and oxalathylin (C6H10N2) also belong, in a physiological sense, but gelsemine, like sparteine, dilates the pupil.
§ 340. Properties.—Aniline or amido-benzol (C6H5NH2) is made by the reduction of nitro-benzol. It is an oily fluid, colourless when quite pure, but gradually assuming a yellow tinge on exposure to the air. It has a peculiar and distinctive smell. It boils at 182·5°, and can be congealed by a cold of 8°. It is slightly soluble in water, 100 parts of water at 16° retaining about 3 of aniline, and easily soluble in alcohol, ether, and chloroform. It does not blue red-litmus paper, but nevertheless acts as a weak alkali, for it precipitates iron from its salts. It forms a large number of crystalline salts. The hydrochloride crystallises in white plates, and has a melting-point of 192°. The platinum compound has the formula of (C6H5NH2HCl)2PtCl4, and crystallises in yellow needles.
§ 341. Symptoms and Effects.—Aniline, like picric acid, coagulates albumin. Aniline is a blood poison; it produces, even during life, in some obscure way, methæmoglobin, and it disintegrates the red blood corpuscles; both these effects lessen the power of the blood corpuscles to convey oxygen to the tissues, hence the cyanosis observed so frequently in aniline poisoning is explained. Engelhardt[367] has found that aniline black is produced; in every drop of blood there are fine black granules, the total effect of which produce a pale blue or grey-blue colour of the skin. Aniline has also an action on the central nervous system, at first stimulating, and then paralysing. Schmiedeberg finds that para-amido-phenol-ether-sulphuric acid is produced, and appears in the urine as an alkali salt; a small quantity of fuchsine is also produced, and has been found in the urine. Some aniline may be excreted unchanged.
[367] Beiträge zur Tox. des Anilins. Inaug.-Diss., Dorpat, 1888.
The symptoms are giddiness, weakness, cyanosis, blueness of the skin, sinking of the temperature, and dilatation of the pupil. The pulse is small and frequent, the skin moist and cold. The patient smells of aniline. Towards the end coma and convulsions set in. The urine may be brown to brown-black, and may contain hyaline cylinders. The blood shows the spectrum of methæmoglobin, and has the peculiarities already mentioned. Should the patient recover, jaundice often follows. The outward application of aniline produces eczema.
Chronic poisoning by aniline is occasionally seen among workers in the manufacture of aniline. Headache, loss of muscular power, diminished sensibility of the skin, vomiting, loss of appetite, pallor, eruptions on the skin, and general malaise are the chief symptoms. The perspiration has been noticed to have a reddish colour.
Cases of aniline poisoning are not common; Dr. Fred. J. Smith has recorded one in the Lancet of January 13, 1894.[368] The patient, a woman, 42 years of age, of alcoholic tendencies, swallowed, 13th December 1893, at 1.40 P.M., about 3 ounces of marking ink, the greatest part of which consisted of aniline; in a very little while she became unconscious, and remained so until death. At 3 P.M. her lips were of a dark purple, the general surface of the skin was deadly white, with a slight bluish tinge; the pupils were small and sluggish, the breathing stertorous, and the pulse full and slow—60 per minute. The stomach was washed out, ether injected, and oxygen administered, but the patient died comatose almost exactly twelve hours after the poison had been taken.
[368] See also a case reported by K. Dehio, in which a person drank 10 grms. and recovered, Ber. klinis. Wochen., 1888, Nr. 1.
The post-mortem examination showed slight congestion of the lungs; the heart was relaxed in all its chambers, and empty of blood; it had a peculiar green-blue appearance. All the organs were healthy. The blood was not spectroscopically examined.
§ 342. Fatal Dose.—This is not known, but an adult would probably be killed by a single dose of anything over 6 grms. Recovery under treatment has been known after 10 grms.; the fatal dose for rabbits is 1-1·5 grms., for dogs 3-5 grms.
§ 343. Detection of Aniline.—Aniline is easily separated and detected. Organic fluids are alkalised by a solution of potash, and distilled. The organs, finely divided, are extracted with water acidulated with sulphuric acid, the fluid filtered, and then alkalised and distilled. The distillate is shaken up with ether, the ether separated and allowed to evaporate spontaneously. Any aniline will be in the residue left after evaporation of the ether, and may be identified by the following tests:—An aqueous solution of aniline or its salts is coloured blue by a little chloride of lime or hypochlorite of soda; later on the mixture becomes red. The blue colour has an absorption band, when examined spectroscopically, extending from W.L. 656 to 560, and therefore in the red and yellow from Fraunhofer’s line C, and overlapping D. Another test for aniline is the addition of kairine, hydrochloric acid, and sodium nitrite, which strikes a blue colour.
§ 344. General Composition.—Opium contains a larger number of basic substances than any plant known. The list reaches at present to 18 or 19 nitrogenised bases, and almost each year there have been additions. Some of these alkaloids exist in very small proportion, and have been little studied. Morphine and narcotine are those which, alone, are toxicologically important. Opium is a gummy mass, consisting of the juice of the incised unripe fruit of the Papaver somniferum hardened in the air. The following is a nearly complete list of the constituents which have been found in opium:—
| Morphine, C17H19NO3. | |||
| Narcotine, C22H23NO7. | |||
| Narceine, C23H29NO9. | |||
| Apomorphine, C17H10NO2 | - | By dehydration of morphine and codeine respectively. | |
| Apocodeine, C18H19NO2 | |||
| Pseudomorphine, C17H19NO4. | |||
| Codamine, C20H25NO4. | |||
| Ladanine, C20H25NO4. | |||
| Ladanosine, C21H27NO4. | |||
| Protapine, C20H19NO5. | |||
| Cryptopine, C21H23NO5. | |||
| Lanthopine, C23H25NO4. | |||
| Hydrocotarnine, C12H15NO3. | |||
| Opianine, C21H21NO7. | |||
| Cnoscopine, C34H36N2O11. | |||
| Rhœadine, C20H21NO7. | |||
| Codeine, C18H21NO3. | |||
| Thebaine, C19H21NO3. | |||
| Papaverine, C20H21NO4. | |||
| Meconidine, C21H23NO4. | |||
| Meconin, C10H10O4. | |||
| Meconic acid, C7H4O7. | |||
| Thebolactic acid. | |||
| Fat. | |||
| Resin. | |||
| Caoutchouc. | |||
| Gummy matters—Vegetable mucus. | |||
| Ash, containing the usual constituents. | |||
The various opiums differ, the one from the other, in the percentages of alkaloids, so that only a very general statement of the mean composition of opium can be made. The following statement may, however, be accepted as fairly representative of these differences:—
| Per cent. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Morphine, | 6 | to | 15 |
| Narcotine, | 4 | to | 8 |
| Other alkaloids, | 5 | to | 2 |
| Meconin, | Under 1 | ||
| Meconic acid, | 3 | to | 8 |
| Peculiar resin and caoutchouc, | 5 | to | 10 |
| Fat, | 1 | to | 4 |
| Gum and soluble humoid acid matters, | 40 | to | 50 |
| Insoluble matters and mucus, | 18 | to | 20 |
| Ash, | 4 | to | 8 |
| Water, | 8 | to | 30 |
The general results of the analysis of 12 samples of Turkey opium, purchased by Mr. Bott,[369] from leading druggists in London, Dublin, and Edinburgh, are as follows:—
[369] Year Book of Pharmacy, 1876.
Water.—Highest, 31·2; lowest, 18·4; mean, 22·4 per cent.
Insoluble Residue.—Highest, 47·9; lowest, 25·45; mean, 32·48 per cent.
Aqueous Extract.—Highest, 56·15; lowest, 20·90; mean, 45·90 per cent.
Crude Morphine (containing about 7⁄10 of pure morphine).—Highest, 12·30; lowest, 6·76; mean, 9·92 per cent., which equals 12·3 per cent. of the dried drug.
Persian Opium, examined in the same way, varied in crude morphine from 2·1 to 8·5 per cent.; Malwa, from 5·88 to 7·30. In 18 samples of different kinds of opium, the mean percentage of crude morphine was 8·88 per cent. (11 per cent. of the dried opium). According to Guibourt, Smyrna opium, dried at 100°, yields 11·7 to 21·46 per cent., the mean being 12 to 14 per cent.; Egyptian, from 5·8 to 12 per cent.; Persian, 11·37 per cent. In East Indian Patna opium, for medical use, he found 7·72; in a sample used for smoking, 5·27 per cent.; in Algerian opium, 12·1 per cent.; in French opium, 14·8 to 22·9 per cent.
§ 345. Action of Solvents on Opium.—The action of various solvents on opium has been more especially studied by several scientists who are engaged in the extraction of the alkaloids.
Water dissolves nearly everything except resin, caoutchouc, and woody fibre. Free morphine would be left insoluble; but it seems always to be combined with meconic and acetic acids. The solubility of free narcotine in water is extremely small.
Alcohol dissolves resin and caoutchouc, and all the alkaloids and their combinations, with meconic acid, &c.
Amylic Alcohol dissolves all the alkaloids, if they are in a free state, and it also takes up a little of the resin.
Ether, Benzene, and Carbon Sulphide do not dissolve the resin, and only slightly morphine, if free; but they dissolve the other free alkaloids as well as caoutchouc.
Acids dissolve all the alkaloids and the resin.
Fixed Alkalies, in excess, dissolve in part resin; they also dissolve morphine freely; narcotine remains insoluble.
Lime Water dissolves morphine, but is a solvent for narcotine only in presence of morphine.
Ammonia dissolves only traces of morphine; but narceine and codeine readily. It does not dissolve the other alkaloids, nor does it dissolve the resin.
§ 346. Assay of Opium.—The following processes may be described:—
Process of Teschemacher and Smith.—This process, with a few modifications, is as follows:—10 grms. of opium are as completely exhausted with proof spirit at a boiling temperature as possible. The resulting alcoholic extract is treated with a few drops of ammonium oxalate solution, and the solution is almost neutralised with ammonia. The solution is concentrated to one-third, cooled, and filtered. The filtrate is farther concentrated to 5 c.c., and transferred to a small flask, it is washed into this flask by 4 c.c. of water, and 3 c.c. of 90 per cent. alcohol; next 2 c.c. solution of ammonia (sp. gr. 0·960) and 25 c.c. of dry ether are added. The flask is corked, shaken, and then allowed to rest over-night.
The ether is decanted as completely as possible. Two filter papers are taken and counterpoised—that is to say, they are made precisely the same weight. The filters are placed one inside the other, and the precipitate collected on the inner one; the precipitate is washed with morphinated water—that is to say, water in which morphine has been digested for some days. The filter papers with their contents are washed with benzene and dried, the outer paper put on the pan of the balance carrying the weights, and the inner filter with the precipitate weighed. The precipitate is now digested with a known volume of decinormal acid, and then the excess of acid ascertained by titration with decinormal alkali, using either litmus or methyl orange; each c.c. of decinormal acid is equal to 30·3 mgrms. of morphine.[370]
[370] Pharm. Journal, xix. 45, 82; xxii. 746. Wright and Farr, Chemist and Druggist, 1893, i. 78.
Dott’s Process.—Dott has recently proposed a new process, which he states has given good results. The process is as follows:—10 grammes of powdered opium are digested with 25 c.c. water; 1·8 gramme barium chloride dissolved in about 12 c.c. water is then added, the solution made up to 50 c.c., well mixed, and after a short time filtered. 22 c.c. (representing 5 grammes opium) are mixed with dilute sulphuric acid in quantity just sufficient to precipitate the barium. About 1 c.c. is required, and the solution should be warmed to cause the precipitate to subside, and the solution to filter clear. To this filtered solution a little dilute ammonia, about 0·5 c.c. is added to neutralise the free acid, and the solution concentrated to 6 or 7 c.c., and allowed to cool. 1 c.c. spirit and 1 c.c. ether are then added, and next ammonia in slight excess. The ammonia should be added gradually until there is no further precipitation, and a perceptible odour of ammonia remains after well stirring and breaking down any lumps with the stirring rod. After three hours the precipitate is collected on counterpoised filters and washed. Before filtering, it should be noted that the solution has a faint odour of ammonia: if not, one or two drops of ammonia solution should be added. The dried precipitate is washed with benzene or chloroform, dried, and weighed. It is then titrated with n⁄10 acid, until the morphine is neutralised, as indicated by the solution reddening litmus paper.[371]
[371] Other methods of opium assay have been published: see Mr. A. B. Prescott’s method (Proceedings of Amer. Pharm. Assoc., 1878); Allen (Commercial Org. Analysis, vol. ii. p. 473); E. R. Squibb’s modification of Flückiger’s method (Pharm. Journ. (3), xii. p. 724); a rapid mode of opium assay, MM. Portes and Lanjlois (Journ. de Pharm. et de Chim., Nov. 1881); Year Book of Pharmacy, 1882.
To the above may be added—(1.) Schacht’s Method.—5 to 10 grms. of dry, finely-powdered opium are digested with sufficient distilled water to make a thin pulp. After twenty-four hours the whole is thrown on a weighed filter, and washed until the washings are almost colourless and tasteless. The portion insoluble in water is dried at 100° and weighed; in good opium this should not exceed 40 per cent. The filtrate is evaporated until it is about one-fifth of the weight of the opium taken originally; cooled, filtered, and treated with pure animal charcoal, until the dark brown colour is changed into a brownish-yellow. The liquid is then refiltered, precipitated with a slight excess of ammonia, allowed to stand in an open vessel until all odour of ammonia disappears, and at the same time frequently stirred, in order that the precipitate may not become crystalline—a form which is always more difficult to purify. The precipitate is now collected on a tared filter, washed, dried, and weighed. With an opium containing 10 per cent. of morphine, its weight is usually 14 per cent. A portion of the precipitate is then detached from the filter, weighed, and exhausted, first with ether, and afterwards with boiling alcohol (0·81 specific gravity). Being thus purified from narcotine, and containing a little colouring-matter only, it may now be dried and weighed, and the amount of morphine calculated, on the whole, from the data obtained.
(2.) Fleury has proposed a titration by oxalic acid as follows:—2 grms. of the powdered opium are macerated a few hours with 8 c.c. of aqueous oxalate of ammonia, brought on a filter, and washed with 5 c.c. of water. To the filtrate an equal volume of 80 per cent. alcohol and ammonia to alkaline reaction is added; and, after standing twenty-four hours in a closed flask, it is filtered, and the flask rinsed out with some c.c. of 40 per cent. alcohol. The filter, with its contents, after drying, is placed in the same flask (which should not be cleansed), a few drops of alcoholic logwood solution are added, with an excess of oxalic acid solution of known strength, the whole being made up to 100 c.c. This is divided into two parts, and the excess of acid titrated back with diluted soda-lye. If the oxalic acid solution is of the strength of 4·42 grms. to the litre, every c.c. of the oxalic acid solution which has become bound up with morphine, corresponds to 0·02 grm. of morphine.
§ 347. Medicinal and other Preparations of Opium.—The chief mixtures, pills, and other forms, officinal and non-officinal, in which opium may be met with, are as follows:—
Compound Tincture of Camphor, P. B. (Paregoric).—Opium, camphor, benzoic acid, oil of anise, and proof spirit: the opium is in the proportion of about 0·4 per cent., or 1 grain of opium in 240 minims.
Ammoniated Tincture of Opium (Scotch paregoric).—Strong solution of ammonia, rectified spirit, opium, oil of anise, saffron, and benzoic acid. Nearly 1 per cent. or 1 grain of opium in every 96 minims.
| The Compound Powder of Kino, P. B. | |||
| Opium, | 5 | per cent. | |
| Cinnamon, | 20 | „ | |
| Kino, | 75 | „ | |
| The Compound Powder of Opium, P. B. | |||
| Opium, | 10·00 | per cent. | |
| Black Pepper, | 13·33 | „ | |
| Ginger, | 33·33 | „ | |
| Caraway Fruit, | 40·00 | „ | |
| Tragacanth, | 3·33 | „ | |
| Pill of Lead and Opium, P. B. | |||
| Acetate of Lead, | 75·0 | per cent. | |
| Opium, | 12·5 | „ | |
| Confection of Roses, | 12·5 | „ | |
Tincture of Opium (Laudanum).—Opium and proof spirit. One grain of opium in 14·8 min.—that is, about 6·7 parts by weight in 100 by measure.
The amount of opium actually contained in laudanum has been investigated by Mr. Woodland,[372] from fourteen samples purchased from London and provincial chemists. The highest percentage of extract was 5·01, the lowest 3·21, the mean being 4·24; the highest percentage of morphine was ·70 per cent., the lowest ·32, the mean being ·51 per cent. It is, therefore, clear that laudanum is a liquid of very uncertain strength.
[372] Year Book of Pharmacy, 1882.
Aromatic Powder of Chalk and Opium.—Opium 2·5 per cent., the rest of the constituents being cinnamon, nutmeg, saffron, cloves, cardamoms, and sugar.
Compound Powder of Ipecacuanha (Dover’s Powder).
| Opium, | 10 | per cent. |
| Ipecacuanha, | 10 | „ |
| Sulphate of Potash, | 80 | „ |
Confection of Opium (Confectio opii) is composed of syrup and compound powder of opium; according to its formula, it contains 2·4 per cent. of opium by weight.
Extract of Opium contains the solid constituents capable of extraction by water; it should contain 20 per cent. of morphine, and is therefore about double the strength of dry powdered opium.
Liquid Extract of Opium has been also examined by Mr. Woodland:[373] ten samples yielded as a mean 3·95 per cent. of dry extract, the highest number being 4·92 per cent., the lowest 3·02. The mean percentage of morphine was ·28 per cent., the highest amount being ·37, and the lowest ·19 per cent.
[373] Op. cit.
Liniment of Opium is composed of equal parts of laudanum and soap liniment; it should contain about 0·0375 per cent. morphine.
The Compound Soap-pill is made of soap and opium, one part of opium in every 5·5 of the mass—i.e., about 18 per cent.
Ipecacuanha and Morphine Lozenges, as the last, with the addition of ipecacuanha; each lozenge contains 1⁄36 grain (1·8 mgrms.) morphine hydrochlorate, 1⁄12 grain (5·4 mgrms.) ipecacuanha.
Morphia Suppositories are made with hydrochlorate of morphine, benzoated lard, white wax, and oil of theobroma; each suppository contains 1⁄2 grain (32·4 mgrms.) of morphine salt.
Opium Lozenges are composed of opium extract, tincture of tolu, sugar, gum, extract of liquorice, and water. Each lozenge contains 1⁄10 grain (6·4 mgrms.) of extract of opium, or about 1⁄50 grain (1·3 mgrm.) morphine.
The Ointment of Galls and Opium contains one part of opium in 14·75 parts of the ointment—i.e., opium 6·7 per cent.
Opium Wine, P. B.—Sherry, opium extract, cinnamon, and cloves. About 5 of opium extract by weight in 100 parts by measure (22 grains to the ounce).
Solutions of Morphine, both of the acetate and hydrochlorate, P. B., are made with a little free acid, and with rectified spirit. The strength of each is half a grain in each fluid drachm (·0324 grm. in 3·549), or ·91 part by weight in 100 by measure.
Solution of Bimeconate of Morphine.—One fluid oz. contains 51⁄2 grains of bimeconate of morphine.
Morphia Lozenges are made with the same accessories as opium lozenges, substituting morphine for opium; each lozenge contains 1⁄36 grain of hydrochlorate of morphia (1·8 mgrm.).
Syrup of Poppies.—The ordinary syrup of poppies is sweetened laudanum. It should, however, be what it is described—viz., a syrup of poppy-heads. As such, it is said to contain one grain of extract of opium to the ounce.
Godfrey’s Cordial is made on rather a large scale, and is variable in strength and composition. It usually contains about 11⁄2 grains of opium in each fluid ounce,[374] and, as other constituents: sassafras, molasses or treacle, rectified spirit, and various flavouring ingredients, especially ginger, cloves, and coriander; aniseed and caraways may also be detected.
[374] If made according to Dr. Paris’ formula, 11⁄6 grains in an ounce.
Grinrod’s Remedy for Spasms consists of hydrochlorate of morphine, spirit of sal-volatile, ether, and camphor julep; strength, 1 grain of the hydrochlorate in every 6 ounces.
Lemaurier’s Odontalgic Essence is acetate of morphine dissolved in cherry-laurel water; strength, 1 grain to the ounce.
Nepenthe is a preparation very similar to Liq. Opii sedativ., and is of about the same strength as laudanum.[375]
[375] It may be regarded as a purified alcoholic solution of meconate of morphia, with a little excess of acid, and of about the same strength as laudanum.—Taylor.
Black Drop (known also by various names, such as Armstrong’s Black Drop) is essentially an acetic acid solution of the constituents of opium. It is usually considered to be of four times the strength of laudanum. The wholesale receipt for it is: Laudanum, 1 oz., and distilled vinegar 1 quart, digested for a fortnight. The original formula proposed by the Quaker doctor of Durham, Edward Tunstall, is—Opium, sliced, 1⁄2 lb.; good verjuice,[376] 3 pints; and nutmeg, 11⁄2 oz.; boiled down to a syrup thickness; 1⁄4 lb. of sugar and 2 teaspoonfuls of yeast are then added. The whole is set in a warm place for six or eight weeks, after which it is evaporated in the open air until it becomes of the consistence of a syrup. It is lastly decanted and filtered, a little sugar is added, and the liquid made up to 2 pints.
[376] Verjuice is the juice of the wild crab.
“Nurse’s Drops” seem to be composed of oil of caraway and laudanum.
Powell’s Balsam of Aniseed, according to evidence in the case of Pharmaceutical Society v. Armson (Pharm. Journ., 1894), contains in every oz. 1⁄10 grain of morphine.
Dalby’s Carminative—
Dose, from a half to one teaspoonful. Another recipe has no laudanum, but instead syrup of poppies.
| Chlorodyne—Brown’s Chlorodyne is composed of— | ||||
| Chloroform, | 6 | drachms. | ||
| Chloric ether, | 1 | dra„ | ||
| Tincture of capsicum, | 1⁄2 | dra„ | ||
| Hydrochlorate of morphine, | 8 | grains. | ||
| Scheele’s prussic acid, | 12 | drops | ||
| Tincture of Indian hemp, | 1 | drachm. | ||
| Treacle, | 1 | dra„ | ||
| Atkinson’s Infant Preserver— | ||||
| Carbonate of magnesia, | 6 | drachms. | ||
| White sugar, | 2 | ounces | ||
| Oil of aniseed, | 20 | drops. | ||
| Spirit of sal-volatile, | 2 | 1⁄2 | drachms. | |
| Laudanum, | 1 | dra„ | ||
| Syrup of saffron, | 1 | ounce. | ||
| Caraway water, to make up, | 1 | pint. | ||
| Boerhave’s Odontalgic Essence— | ||||
| Opium, | 1⁄2 | drachm. | ||
| Oil of cloves, | 2 | dra„ | ||
| Powdered camphor, | 5 | dra„ | ||
| Rectified spirit, | 1 | 1⁄2 | fl. ounce. | |
§ 348. Statistics.—During the ten years 1883-1892 no less than 1424 deaths in England and Wales were attributed to some form or other of opium or its active constituents; 45 of these deaths were ascribed to various forms of soothing syrup or to patent medicines containing opium or morphine; 876 were due to accident or negligence; 497 were suicidal and 6 were homicidal deaths. The age and sex distribution of the deaths ascribed to accident and those ascribed to suicide are detailed in the following tabular statement:—
DEATHS IN ENGLAND AND WALES DURING THE TEN YEARS 1883-1892 FROM OPIUM, LAUDANUM, MORPHINE, &c.
| Accident. | |||||||
| Ages, | 0-1 | 1-5 | 5-15 | 15-25 | 25-65 | 65 and above |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males, | 72 | 27 | 1 | 16 | 302 | 85 | 503 |
| Females, | 50 | 23 | 4 | 21 | 189 | 86 | 373 |
| Total, | 122 | 50 | 5 | 37 | 491 | 171 | 876 |
| Suicide. | |||||||
| Ages, | 5-15 | 15-25 | 25-65 | 65 and above |
Total | ||
| Males, | 1 | 26 | 269 | 34 | 330 | ||
| Females, | ... | 24 | 126 | 17 | 167 | ||
| Total, | 1 | 50 | 395 | 51 | 497 | ||
Of European countries, England has the greatest proportional number of opium poisonings. In France, opium or morphine poisoning accounts for about 1 per cent. of the whole; and Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, all give very small proportional numbers; arsenic, phosphorus, and the acids taking the place of opiates. The more considerable mortality arises, in great measure, from the pernicious practice—both of the hard-working English mother and of the baby-farmer—of giving infants various forms of opium sold under the name of “soothing syrups,” “infants’ friends,” “infants’ preservatives,” “nurses’ drops” and the like, to allay restlessness, and to keep them during the greater part of their existence asleep. Another fertile cause of accidental poisoning is mistakes in dispensing; but these mistakes seem to happen more frequently on the Continent than in England. This is in some degree due to the decimal system, which has its dangers as well as its advantages, e.g.:—A physician ordered ·5 decigrm. of morphine acetate in a mixture for a child, but omitted the decimal point, and the apothecary, therefore, gave ten times the dose desired, with fatal effect. Again, morphine hydrochlorate, acetate, and similar soluble salts are liable to be mistaken for other white powders, and in this way unfortunate accidents have occurred—accidents that, with proper dispensing arrangements, should be impossible.
§ 349. Poisoning of Children by Opium.—The drugging of children by opium—sometimes with a view to destroy life, sometimes merely for the sake of the continual narcotism of the infant—is especially rife in India.[377] A little solid opium is applied to the roof of the mouth, or smeared on the tongue, and some Indian mothers have been known to plaster the nipples with opium, so that the child imbibes it with the milk. Europeans, again and again, have discovered the native nurses administering opiates to the infants under their care, and it is feared that in many cases detection is avoided.