§ 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.
III.—The Opium Group of Alkaloids.
§ 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:—