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THE STORY OF OPIUM.
By
QUARTERMASTER-SERJEANT ERIC
F.
SMITH,
Royal Army Medical Corps.
" I bring refreshment,
I bring ease and calm,
I lavish strength and healing,
I am balm."
CHRISTINA ROSSETTI.
To the layman opium suggeRts visions of secret illegal haunts in the
Chinese quarter of great cities, where miserable wretches dope themselves
to an ignoble end. To the lover of literature it has been the moans of
introducing some of the most wonderful writings, in the works of De
Quincey, which have appeared in the English language. Its value is alone
known to the physician and pharmacist, although they are fully aware
of the dangers which attend its uncontrolled consumption.
Its history embraces many countries and periods, and is associated with
some extraordinary episodes. Britain once possessed the world's monopoly
in its trade, and lost it again at a great sacrifice. She was forced into an
unjust war owing to its traffic, but gained a colony as the result of that
war.
Opium is one of the oldest drugs known to medicine. As far as is
known, it was first mentioned by Theophrastus (390-280 B.U.), a disciple
of Aristotle, who refers to it as an extract produced from the whole of the
poppy plant. Dioscorides, an early Greek medical authority, in A.D. 77
differentiates between one extract obtained from the whole plant, and
another, which he called opion (derived from Greek opos, vegetable juice),
obtained from the capsule. It was Heraclides, one of the Empirics, who
lived in the third century of the Christian era, who first recorded the use
of opiutnas an anodyne in painful diseases. His prescription for cholera'
was composed of henbane seeds, aniseed, and opium. Galen,' however,
seems to have been somewhat dubious about using the drug, probably
owing to his ignorance of its composition, and states that he never employed
it except in extremis. In 1516 opium was first referred to as the product
of Cons (Kuch Behar), and its cultivation in India was solely due to'the
Mahomedan invasion of that country.
The first Islamic conquerors
arrived in India about A.D. 1200, but it is not certain when the white poppy
was first planted. About the middle of the fourteenth century the Mogul
emperors were in receipt of a large revenue as the result of its exploitation,
and they retained the world's opium trade until it was wrested from them
by Olive's victory",at Plassey in 1757.
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Eric F. Smith
That extraordinarily revolutionary character, Paracelsus, to whom
the writer has l:eferred more fully in a previous article/ introduced an
anodynll11L specijicum, which was prepared by digesting opium,4 parts, in
a mixture of orange and lemon juices, 180 parts, with distilled frog's spawn
water, to which cinnamon, 4 parts, cloves, 45 parts, ambergris, 4 parts,
and saffron, 45 parts, were added. The mixture was digested for a month,
and after pressing and straining, coral, magistery of pearls, and quintessence of gold, of each 2 parts, were added. A weird and wonderful
prescription, which is worthy of the brain of Paracelsus. He also used a
substance which he called "laudanum," but it is doubtful whether there
was any opium in its composition, at any rate there is no prescription left
on record. "lch habe," he writes, "ein Arcanum, heiss ieh Laudanum,
ist uber das alles wo es zum Tod reichen will." 'l'here are several theories
advanced to explain the origin of the word. One is that it came from
labdanum, a resinous exudation from a sbrub (Linnaeus-cistus creticlls)
growing on the island of Candida. This was collected in a somewhat
unusual manner. The goats of the island, which browsed on the hills,
when they returned to the fold at night, had their beards combed by the
islanders for the purpose of removing the resin. Dr. La Wall is, however,
of the opinion that this theory is erroneous, and that the one given by
Quercetanus, the name adopted by J oseph dn Chesne, a mediawal pharmaceutical writer, is probably right. The latter states that the root word is
laltdare, to praise, and was applied to the compound owing to its praiseworthy nature.
.
For more than a century after Paracelsus, the word laudanum was
applied to solid preparations, some containing opium, others not. The
first edition of the London Pharmacopooia (1618) contained several
form~lre, under the title of Laudanum, but these all containedopinm.
Van Helmont (1577-1644), a Flemish pharmacist, and an ardent
admirer of Paracelslls; was so impressed with the potency of opium that
he prescribed it in large doses at every possible opportunity, so much so
that he came to be known as the" Doctor Opiatus." Stabl (1600-1704),
a German chemist, and the originator of the phlogiston theory, which was
not disproved until the advent of La.voisier and Humphry Davy, disapproved of the use of opium in any form. He was the author of a treatise,
" De lmposturis Opii," and in it he severely castigates Van Helmont and
the school of Paracelsus for presuming to use a drug of which they knew
so little.
Dr. Thomas Dover (1660-1742) will ever be associated with the diaphoretic powder which bears his name. He seems to have received only
a slipshod medical education, but he attended, spasmodically, the ltctures
of the great Dr. Sydenham. In 1708 he was captain of a privateering
1 '~The Story
CORPS, vol. L.
of the British Phal'macopceia,"
JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL
.
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The Story of Opium
vessel, the "Duke," and his ~bip in 1709 rescued, from the island of San
Fernandez, that Alexander Selkirk whose adventures inspired Daniel Defoe
in later years to write his romantic masterpiece. Dover's voyage ended
in 1710, with great profit to himself, thereupon he abandoned the sea for
medicine, and in a short time became successful and popular. In 1733 he
wrote "The Ancient Physician's Legacy to his Country," which contains
an account of the various remedies he applied during his medical career.
The "diaphoretic powder" on which his fame stands he describes as
follows : Opium
}
Ipecacuanha
of each one ounce
Liquorice in fine powder
Saltpetre
of each four ounces
Tartar vi trolated
This was directed to be taken in sixty-grain doses, but Dover states
that he often gave up to one hundred grains.
Dr. Thomas Sydenham (1624-i6f::l9), under whom Dover studied for
a while, was a conscientious and capable physician. He placed great faith
in the efficacy of opium, and was the first to introduce the alcoholic
tincture into general practice. This he prepared, mixed with saffron, by
percolation with Canary wine. He first described the tincture in 1669,
which he employed as a specific for the victims of the Great Plague which
devastated London in 1664. "I do not believe," he wrote, "that this
preparation has more virtues than the solid laudanum (opium) of the shops,
but it is more convenient to administer.
Of all the remedies
which a kind Providence has be&towed upon mankind for the purpose of
lightening its miseries, there is not one which equals opium ill its powers
to moderate the violence of so many maladies, and even to cure some of
them. Medicine would be a one-arm man if it did not possess the remedy.
Laudanum is the best of all the cordials, indeed it is the only geilUine
cordial that we possess to-day."
Despite the conscientious labours of Sydenham it was left to a quack
to popularize opium by means of the diaphoretic powder of Dr. Dover.
Joshua Ward (1685-1761) commenced life as a drysalter. It is
doubtful whether he ever received any medical training whatever, but he
possessed a fascinating personality, and enjoyed the friendship of such
well-known men as Gibbon, Fielding, Reynolds, Horace Walpole, and
Churchill, and in a short time he rose to be one of the most brilliant figures
in that glittering coterie. Ward, by a lunky move on his part, managed to
reduce the di_slocated thumb of George Il, and thereby gained the everlasting friendship of that monarch. By 1748 he had attained such fame
as a physician (sic), that when. an apothecary's Act was introduced by
Parliament "to restrict unlicensed persons from compounding medicines,"
he was especially exempted by a clause which was introduced at the last
moment. Many of his prescriptions were published at the expense of the
royal purse, but he was an arrant plagiarist, and one of his specifics was
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Eric F. Smith
283
nothing more than Dover's powder, which he introduced to the world as
his own composition under the name of "Sweating Powder." It first
appeared in the London Pharmacopooia for 1788.
Ward's name has been handed down as the inventor of Ward's paste,
the confectio piperis of the British Pharmacopceia. He had great political
ambitions, and was at one time returned as M.P. for Marlborough, although
Parliament unseated him, as it was found that at the alleged election he
did 'not receive a single vote. Pope wrote of him : " Of late, without the least pretence to skill,
Ward's grown a famed physician by a pilL"
The paregoric (tinct. camph. co.) of the present B.P. orginated with
Dr. Le :Mort, Professor of Chemistry at Leyden University (1702-1718).
His formula was published in the London Pharmacopooia of 1'721 under the
title of Elixir Asth11laticm1L, and contained honey, liquori0e, opium, benzoic
acid, camphor, oil of ani se, potassium carbonate and alcohol. In later
editions it came to be called Elixir Paregor·icum. The origin of the word
paregoric is interesting. It comes from the Greek word paregorein, to
address a meeting. Later the word came to indicate the act of pacifying
an audience with soft words, and in due time was applied to any soothing
draught. Paregoric was originally used in pharmacy in connection with a
variety of preparations. In the Pharmacopooia Universalis, published at
Weimar in 1846, over' twenty different kinds of paregofic are referred to,
all of them containing opium.
INDIA AND THE OPIUM THADE.·
Ever since the Battle of Plassey (1757) the Empire's trade ill opium
has been the subject of much controversy and misunderstanding.
Palmerston, in a letter to Lansdowne written in 1850, said, "No doubt for
valuable cousideration we could prevail upon our friend the Czar to take
us under his wing, and his conditions would probably be acceptable to
many, as he would most likely be satisfied with being allowed to relieve us
from the sin of selling opium to the Chinese."
A certain section of public opinion at home, through ignorance of the
actual prevailing conditions in India, had accused the British East India
Company of practically forcing opium down the throats of an unwilling
nation for the benefit of the shareholder's pockets. As has been pointed
out again and again by those who know, there are no "drug fiends" in
India. Opium was partaken of sometimes medicinally,sometimes socially,
when it was offered as an act of hospitality, and more often in small
quantities as an indulgence, but never to the extent of excess. as it is sometimes taken in the West. To quote from the Official Handbook on India:
"For over a century the authorities have been engaged in the gradual'
establishment of control over the production, transit and sale of the drug
throughout the country. This has been done by concentrating the cultiva-
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The Story of Opium
tion, as far as British India is concerned, within limited areas, by the discontinuance of cultivation in many Indian States as the outcome of
bargaining, and by a perfect system of licensing and control oC shops.
The success of this policy is proved by the results. . . . Enhanced prices
and restricted supply, together with a welcome, though slow, trend of
public opinion, are resulting in a decreasing use of opium for ceremonial
hospitality or for personal indulgence, and thus are tending to restrict the
consumption of the drug to purposes either medicinal or quasi-medicinal."
In 1891 Sir John Pease introdnced a resolution, which was adopted by
the House of Commons (by'160 to 130), condemning the cultivation of
opium in India. The Pease resolution was the result of continued agitation
on thp- part of a certain minority of public opinion, but the powers of
minorities in ·England have always been extraordinary.
As a sequel to this resolution a Royal Commission was appointed in
July, 1893, which recommended that prohibition should not be enforced,
but suggested State supervision. The report was adopted.
China for many years was India's best customer as regards the sale of
opium. The Chinese Royal Edict of 1796 forbade the import of opium,
with the result that the British Government adopted the policy of excluding
opium ships from China, and at Canton and Macoa placed snperintendents,
who were, however, biased to such an extent in favour of their own
countrymen, that traders became bolder and bolder and landed large
supplies of the crude drug under the very noses of the Chinese officials. In
1839 the Mandarins at certain places destroyed quantities of the smuggled
opium, in accordanc~ with instructions received from the Emperor, and
this led in 1840 to the so-called" Opium War" between Great Britain and
China, not a very creditable affair for us, but the treaty ending hostilities
ced.ed Hong Kong to Britain, and caused the establishment of the" Treaty
Ports."
On February 1, 1909, at Shanghai, China, the United 8tates, Great
Britain, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan; Holland, Persia,
Portugal and Russia, entered into a bond, and resolved that it was the duty
of their respective Governments to prevent the export of opium to any
countries which prohibited its import. The British GoveJ;nment had gone
a step further two years earlier by making an offer to reduce the export of
Indian opium to countries beyond the sea by 5,100 chests each year until
1910, and that if during these three years the Chinese Government had
carried out its avowed intention of reducing the production and consumption
of the drug within its borders, then the British Government would undertake
to cease supplying China with opium in ten years from 1910.
India therefore. sacrificed a former revenue of 4,000,000 sterling per
annum, and the irony of it all is that China now produces something like
eighty per cent of the w01'ld's opium growth.
The use of any suitable variety of opium is officially permitted for preparing the tincture and the extract, providf:ld it contains not less than
o
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Eric F. Smith
285
7'5 per cent anhydrous morphine, bllt opium for other official purposes
must contain between 9'5 percent and 10'5 per cent.
Turkey opium, or the variety known as "Druggist's," contains from
12 to 15 per cent of morphine, whilst Indian medicinal opium contains
much less, viz., 7 to 9'5 per cent. For this reason Indian opium is not
employed for pharmaceutical purposes, but is used, as is inferior quality
Turkey, for the extraction of the alkaloids. In British India the cultivation of opium is only permitted under Government license, and on the
understanding that the whole of' the output is sold to the Government
factory at Ghazipur, United Provinces, at a fixed rate.
At the Ghazipur three classes of opium are manufactured :(a,) Provision opium, intended for export.
(b) Excise opium, for home consumption.
(0) Medicinal opium for export to Londoll, and for Rupply to the
Medical Department of Illdia.
The standard of Indian opium could be raised. Professor Greenish,
Dean of the School of Pharmacy, and our greatest authority on the cultivation of drug plants, stated on one occasion that if proper methods wem
adopted, Indian opium would be as rich in alkaloids as that produced by
other countries.
The author acknowledges the courtesy of Messrs. Burroughs Welicome,
Ltd., in supplying him with some interesting details regarding Indian
opium, which have been embodied in this article and in a previous arti.cle
on "India and the Opium Trade" which appeared in the Times of India
recently.
•
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The Story of Opium
Eric F. Smith
J R Army Med Corps 1930 54:
280-285
doi: 10.1136/jramc-54-04-04
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