OPIUM.
Afim, Afyun, . . ARAB. Caruppa, . . MALE AL. Hapium, . . . BALI. Shir-i-kush-kush, : PERS. Rein, . . . . Bumf. Opio, . . . PORT., SP. O'-fu-yung; Makovi sok, . . Rus.
Yang-yen ; Ya-pi-en, „ Chasa ; Apaynum, SANSK.
Fu-yung, . . . „ Abim, . . .
Valmuesaft, . . . DAN. Vaihno-saft, . . Sw.
Mohnsaft, . . GEE. Apini, TAM.
Opion ; Aphionion, GR. Abhini, . . . TEL.
Oppio, IT Opium is the concrete inspissated juice of the poppy, Papaver somniferum, obtained by making incisions in the capsules, and collecting the exud ing juice. The plant is a native of Western Asia, and probably also of the south of Europe. 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. Such must have happened from very early times, as it happens daily in the present ; but it certainly extended with the spread of Muhammadanism, when, by the tenets of the reformer, wine and fermented liquors being discountenanced, opium came in their stead along with the bhang or hasheesh (made from hemp), coffee, and tobacco. From the Arabs the inhabitants of the Eastern Archipelago pro bably acquired their predilection for opium, and although their particular manner of indulging in it has evidently been derived from the Chinese, China, where at present it is the most extensively used, cannot be said to have indulged long in the practice. The Pharmacographia, without quoting its authority, states that opium smoking only began in China in the latter half of the 17th cen tury. In 1780, the E. I. Company stationed two receiving ships in Lark's Bay, south of Macao.
Hippocrates is supposed to have employed it ; Diagoras condemned its use in affections of the eyes and in earache. It was noticed by Scribonius Largus about A.D. 40 ; by Dioscorides about A.D. 77 ; also by Pliny and Celsus (A.D. 23 ; A.D. 88); but it does not appear to have been much employed until the time of the Arabs, except in the form of the confections called Mithridatica, Theriaka, and Philonium. The Arabic name Afyun, the Hindi Afim, and the name 0'-fu-yung, by which it is known in China, seem all to-have proceeded from the original Greek name, which is itself derived from Opos, juice. The Sanskrit Apaynum may have a similar origin, or it may be the source of the Grecian name, In more recent times, the opium of India was mentioned by Barbosa, who visited the Malabar coast about 1511. Pyres, in a letter from Cochin to king Manuel of Portugal, 1516, describes the opium of Egypt, of Cambay, and of Cous, the last place being sup posed to be Cutch. Garcia d'Orta, writing in the middle of the 16th century, tells of the Malwa opium in Cambay, also of the opium of Aden, of that from Cairo and Upper Egypt ; and the Opium Thebnicum is also described by Prosper Alpinus, who visited Egypt, 1580-83. Kftempfer, when in Persia in 1687, described the kinds of opimn made there, and also the electuaries or Theriaka, which they made of opium, flavoured with amber gris, cardamom, cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, and saffron. The English East India Company, on
becoming rulers in British India, found it one of the maskarat or intoxicating excise articles of the country. In 1773, the contract for the supply of opium was given to Mir Nfunkeer, to deliver Behar opium at Rs. 320, and that of Oudb at Rs. 350 per inaund, say about Rs. 4 the lb.
The poppy is now grown for opium in Asia Minor, Northern Africa, Persia, China, and India, and the last two countries yield the principal supply. Eighteen kinds are, however, known to commerce. In India it is grown in °milt, the Pan jab, in Jammu and Kulu, in the Himalaya, Raj putana, Cutch, Gujerat, Kattyawar, Central India, Central Provinces, Berar, and Mysore; but the opium made for export from India is chiefly in Malwa, Behar, Patna, and Benares. The cultiva tion of the poppy for the Bengal opium is con fined to the large central Gangetic tract, about 600 miles in length and 200 in breadth, which is bounded on the north by Gorakbpur, on the south by Hazaribagh, on the east by Dinapur, and on the west by Agra. This tract is divided into the two agencies of Behar and Benares, the former being presided over by an agent stationed at Banki pur, and the latter by an agent at Ghazipur ; both agencies are under the control of the Board of Customs, Salt, and Opium, in Calcutta. There is no extensive poppy cultivation in the Madras and Bombay Presidencies, and the opium received at Bombay is brought under passes from the Native States in Maiwa and Gujerat. In the Panjab, opium is not made a government monopoly as it is in Bengal ; the people are free to cultivate if they choose, only it ranks as a ' or specially assessed crop, and has certain higher charges made upon it ; the sale of opium, poppy heads (quite a separate thing), bhang, ganja, and charms, which arc collectively termed 4 maskarat,' is restricted, and these articles are subject to excise duty. Opium used in the Panjab comes principally from Kulu, in the Himalaya, but is grown also in the plains, especially in the district of Shahapur. In 1870-71, opium to the value of Rs. 44,400 was manufactured in the Nundidrug division of Mysore. In the eleven months from April 1871 to February 1872, 8688 lbs. were manufactured in the Ban galore and Kolar districts ; and in 1875-76 the quantity exported to British territory was valued at Rs. 2212. In West Berar, the poppy is largely grown in the Buldanah district ; between Maiker, Janiphal, and Bushy, the people are busily occu pied, and exhibit an expertness betokening full experience. In 1870-71, 544 acres of land in the Buldanah district were under cultivation for opium.