2. (Mixtion.) From asphaltum, 1 part; mastic, 4 parts; amber, 12 parts; fused together, and then mixed with hot boiled oil, 1 pint. Used for gilding wood, &c. See Gold size.
MORPHIA. C17H19NO3. Syn. Morphine (Ph. D.), Morphina, Morphium, L. The chief active principle of opium. Morphia was discovered by Ludwig in 1688, but it was first obtained pure, and its precise nature pointed out by Sertuerner in 1804. It is peculiar to the Papaveraceæ, or poppy family.
Prep. 1. (Ph. D.) Turkey opium (cut into thin slices), 1 lb., is macerated for 24 hours in water, 1 quart, and the liquid portion decanted; the residuum is macerated for 12 hours with a second quart of water, and the process is repeated with a third quart of water, after which the insoluble portion is subjected to strong pressure; the mixed liquids are evaporated by water or steam heat to a pint, and filtered through calico; to the filtrate is added a solution formed of chloride of calcium, 6 dr., dissolved in distilled water, 4 fl. oz., and the liquid is further evaporated until it is so far concentrated that nearly the whole of it becomes solid on cooling; this is enveloped in a couple of folds of strong calico, and subjected to powerful pressure, the dark liquid
which exudes being preserved for subsequent use; the squeezed cake is next treated with about 1⁄2 pint of boiling water, and the undissolved portion is washed on a paper filter; the filtered solution is again evaporated, and the solid portion thus obtained submitted to pressure, as before; if the product is not quite white, this process is repeated a third time; the squeezed cake is now dissolved in boiling water, 6 fl. oz., and the solution filtered through animal charcoal (if necessary); to the clear solution is added ammonia, in slight excess; the crystalline precipitate which forms as the liquid cools is collected on a paper filter, washed with cold distilled water, and, lastly, the filter is transferred to a porous brick, in order that the morphia which it contains may become dry. (From the liquids reserved from the expressions more morphia may be obtained by dilution with water, precipitation with ammonia, re-solution in boiling water, and treatment with a little animal charcoal, &c., as before.)
2. (Ph. L. 1836.) Hydrochlorate of morphia, 1 oz., is dissolved in distilled water, 1 pint; and ammonia, 5 fl. dr. (or q. s.), previously diluted with water, 1 fl. oz., is added, with agitation; the precipitate is well washed in distilled water, and dried by a gentle heat. By a similar process morphia may be obtained from its other salts.
3. (Merck.) A cold aqueous infusion of opium is precipitated with carbonate of sodium, in excess; the precipitate washed, first with cold water, and then with cold alcohol of sp. gr. 85; the residuum is dissolved in weak acetic acid, the solution filtered through animal charcoal, and precipitated with ammonia; the precipitate is again washed with cold water, dissolved in alcohol, and crystallised. A good process where spirit is cheap.
4. (Mohr.) Opium, 4 parts, is made into a strong infusion with water, q. s.; lime, 1 part, reduced to a state of milk with water, is then added; the mixture is next heated to boiling, at once filtered through linen, and treated, whilst still hot, with chloride of ammonium, in fine powder, in slight excess (about 1 oz. to each lb. of opium); the morphia is deposited as the liquid cools, and may be purified by a second solution in lime and precipitation by chloride of ammonium. This process is remarkably simple, and in many points is preferable to any other, either on the small or large scale.
5. (Pure.) A filtered solution of opium in tepid water is mixed with acetate of lead in excess; the precipitate (meconate of lead) is separated by a filter, and a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen is passed through the nearly colourless filtrate; the latter is warmed, to expel excess of the gas, once more filtered, and then mixed with a slight excess of ammonia, which throws down narcotine and morphia; these are separated by boiling ether, in which the former is soluble.
Prop. The morphia of commerce is a white crystalline powder; but when crystallised from alcohol, it forms brilliant prismatic crystals of adamantine lustre, and the formula C17H19NO3.H2O. It exerts an alkaline reaction on test paper; imparts a perceptible bitter taste to water; requires 1160 parts of cold water, and 94 parts of boiling water, for its solution; insoluble in ether; dissolves in 90 parts of cold and about 30 parts of boiling alcohol; it also dissolves in the fixed and volatile oils, and in solutions of the alkalies; heated in close vessels, it forms a yellow liquid, like melted sulphur, which becomes white and crystalline on cooling; heated in the air, it melts, inflames like a resin, and leaves a small quantity of charcoal behind. With the acids it forms salts, which are mostly soluble and crystallisable. These may all be made by the direct solution of the alkaloid in the dilute acid. The only ones of importance are the acetate, hydrochlorate, and sulphate.
Pur. Commercial morphia and its preparations are often contaminated with codeine, narcotine, and colouring matter. The proportion of the first two may be estimated by the loss of weight which the sample suffers when digested in ether; or by dissolving out the morphine by digestion in weak liquor of potassa. Pure morphia “is scarcely soluble in cold water, sparingly so in boiling water, and readily so in alcohol. This solution is alkaline to test paper, and by evaporation leaves crystals, which are wholly dissipated by heat. It is soluble in pure potassa.” (Ph. L. 1836.)