In the 13th century opium thebaicum is mentioned by Simon Januensis, physician to Pope Nicholas IV., while meconium was still in use. In the 16th century opium is mentioned by Pyres (1516) as a production of the kingdom of Cous (Kuch Behar, south-west of Bhutan) in Bengal and of Malwa. Its introduction into India appears to have been connected with the spread of Islam. The opium monopoly was the property of the Great Mogul and was regularly sold. In the 17th century Kaempfer describes the various kinds of opium prepared in Persia, and states that the best sorts were flavoured with spices and called “theriaka.” These preparations were held in great estimation during the Middle Ages, and probably supplied to a large extent the place of the pure drug. Opium is said to have been introduced into China, probably by the Arabs (1280-95), during the reign of Taitsu, and its use seems to have temporarily ceased in 1368. It appears to have been commonly used in that country as a medicine before the trade with India commenced., iv. p. 652) that it was introduced from Nepal and afterwards supplied by the Dutch, who purchased the drug for export long before the East India Company held possessions in India. ] In a Chinese herbal compiled more than two centuries ago both the plant and its inspissated juice are described, together with the mode of collecting it, and in the General History of the Southern Provinces of Yunnan, revised and republished in 1736, opium is noticed as a common product. Up to this date, however, it was imported in comparatively small quantity by the Chinese solely as a remedy for dysentery, diarrhoea, and fevers, and was usually brought from India by junks as a return cargo. In the year 1757 the monopoly of opium cultivation passed into the hands of the East India Company through the victory of Clive at Plassey. Up to 1773 the trade with China had been in the hands of the Portuguese, but the quantity annually exported to that country rarely exceeded 200 chests. In that year the East India Company took the trade under their own charge, and in 1776 the annual export reached 1000 chests, and 4054 chests in 1790. Although the importation was forbidden by the Chinese emperor Keaking in 1796, and opium-smoking punished with severe penalties, which were ultimately increased to transportation and death, the trade continued and had increased during 1820-30 to 16,877 chests per annum. In 1839 a proclamation was issued threatening hostile measures if the English opium ships serving as dépôts were not sent away. The demand for removal not being complied with, 20,291 chests of opium (of 149⅜ H> each), valued at £2,000,000, were destroyed by the Chinese commissioner Lin; but still the British sought to smuggle cargoes on shore, and some outrages committed on both sides led to an open war, which was ended by the treaty of Nanking in 1842 (see China, vol. v. p. 651). From that time to the present, in spite of the remonstrances of the Chinese Government, the exportation of opium from India to China has continued, having increased from 52,925 piculs (of 133 J K>) in 1850 to 96,839 piculs in 1880. It appears to be certain, however, that, while the court of Peking was endeavouring to suppress the foreign trade in opium from 1796 to 1840, it did not or could not put a stop to the home cultivation of the drug, since a Chinese censor in 1830 represented to the throne that the poppy was grown over one-half of the province of Chekeang, and in 1836 another, Cho Tsun, stated that the annual produce of opium in Yunnan could not be less than several thousand piculs. At present it is estimated that south-western China, including Szechuen, produces not less than 224,000 piculs, while the entire import from India does not exceed 100,000 piculs. Opium is now produced in nine out of the eighteen provinces of China. The comparative cheapness of the Chinese opium, the lighter duties levied upon it, and the increasing care taken in its cultivation are enabling it to compete successfully with the Indian drug even in eastern China, where, however, it has hitherto been chiefly used to mix with and cheapen the foreign article. A time is confidently anticipated by the Chinese when Indian opium will be entirely supplanted by the native drug. See Commercial Reports, China, No. 2 (1881), p. 138.

The amount of opium imported into Great Britain in 1861, 1871, and 1881 was 284,005, 591,466, and 793,146 lb respectively, and the exports for the same years 290,120, 307,399, and 401,883 fi>.

Production and Commerce.— Although the collection of opium is possible in all places where there is not an excessive rainfall and the climate is temperate or subtropical, the yield is smaller in temperate than in tropical regions, and the industry can only be profitably carried on where labour and land are sufficiently cheap and abundant; hence production on a large scale is limited to comparatively few countries. The varieties of poppy grown, the mode of cultivation adopted, and the character of the opium produced differ so greatly that it will be convenient to consider the opiums of each country separately.

Turkey.— The poppy cultivated in Asia Minor is the variety glabrum, Boissier, distinguished by the sub-globular shape of the capsule and by the stigmata or rays at the top of the fruit being ten or twelve in number. The flowers are usually of a purplish colour, but are sometimes white, and the seeds, like the petals, vary in tint from dark violet to white. The cultivation is carried on, both on the more elevated and lower lands, chiefly by peasant proprietors. A naturally light and rich soil, further improved by manure, is necessary, and moisture is indispensable, although injurious in excess, so that after a wet winter the best crops are obtained on hilly ground, and in a dry season on the plains. The land is ploughed twice, the second time crosswise, so that it may be thoroughly pulverized; and the seed, mixed with four times its quantity of sand, to prevent its being sown too thickly, is scattered broadcast, about ⅞ to 1 ft being used for every toloom (1600 square yards). The crop is very uncertain owing to droughts, spring frosts, and locusts, and, in order to avoid a total failure and to allow time for collecting the produce, there are three sowings at intervals from October to March, —the crops thus coming to perfection in succession. But notwithstanding these precautions quantities of the drug are wasted when the crop is a full one, owing to the difficulty of gathering the whole in the short time during which collection is possible. The first sowing produces the hardiest plants, the yield of the other two depending almost entirely on favourable weather. In localities where there is hoar frost in autumn and spring the seed is sown in September or at latest in the beginning of October, and the yield of opium and seed is then greater than if sown later. After sowing, the land is harrowed, and the young plants are hoed and weeded, chiefly by women and children, from early spring until the time of flowering. In the plains the flowers expand at the end of May, on the uplands in July. At this period gentle showers are of great value, as they cause an increase in the subsequent yield of opium. The petals fall in a few hours, and the capsules grow so rapidly that in a short time—generally from nine to fifteen days— the opium is fit for collection. This period is known by the capsules yielding to pressure with the fingers, assuming a lighter green tint, and exhibiting a kind of bloom called “cougak,” easily rubbed off with the fingers; they are then about 1⅜ inches in diameter. The incisions are made by holding the capsule in the left hand and drawing a knife two - thirds round it, or spirally beyond the starting-point (see fig. 2, a, p. 790), great care being taken not to let the incisions penetrate to the interior lest the juice should flow inside and be lost. (In this case also it is said that the seeds will not ripen, and that no oil can be obtained from them.) The operation is usually performed after the heat of the day, commencing early in the afternoon and continuing to nightfall, and the exuded juice is collected the next morning. This is done by scraping the capsule with a knife and transferring the concreted juice to a poppy-leaf held in the left hand, the edges of the leaf being turned in to avoid spilling the juice, and the knife-blade moistened with saliva by drawing it through the mouth after every alternate scraping to prevent the juice from adhering to it. When as much opium has been collected as the size of the leaf will allow, another leaf is wrapped over the top of the lump, which is then placed in the shade to dry for several days. The pieces vary in size from about 2 oz. to over 2 lb, being made larger in some districts than in others. The capsules are generally incised only once, but the fields are visited a second or third time to collect the opium from the poppy-heads subsequently developed by the branching of the stem. The yield of opium varies, even on the same piece of land, from ⅛ to 7⅜ chequis (of 1 ’ 62 lb) per toloom (1600 square yards), the average being 1⅜ chequis of opium and 4 bushels (of 50 ft) of seed. The seed, which yields 35 to 42 per cent, of oil, is worth about two-thirds of the value of the opium. The whole of the operation must, of course, be completed in the few days—five to ten—during which the capsules are capable of yielding the drug. A cold wind or a chilly atmosphere at the time of collection lessens the yield, and rain washes the opium off the capsules. Before the crop is all gathered in a meeting of buyers and sellers takes place in each district, at which the price to be asked is discussed and settled, and the opium handed to the buyers, who in many instances have advanced money on the standing crop. When sufficiently solid the pieces of opium are packed in cotton bags, a quantity of the fruits of a species of Rumex being thrown in to prevent the cakes from adhering together. The bags are then sealed up, packed in oblong or circular baskets, and sent to Smyrna or other ports on mules. On the arrival of the opium at its destination, in the end of July or beginning of August, it is placed in cool warehouses to avoid loss of weight until sold. When transferred to the buyer’s warehouses the bags are opened and each piece is examined by a public inspector in the presence of both buyer and seller, the quality of the opium being judged by appearance, odour, colour, and weight. It is then sorted into three qualities :—(1) finest quality; (2) current or second; (3) chicanti or rejected pieces. A fourth sort consists of the very bad or wholly factitious pieces. The substances used to adulterate opium are grape-juice thickened with flour, fig-paste, liquorice, half-dried apricots, inferior gum tragacanth, and sometimes clay or pieces of lead or other metals. The chicanti is returned to the seller, who disposes of it at 20 to 30 per cent, discount to French and German merchants for the manufacture of morphia. After inspection the opium is hermetically sealed in tin-lined boxes containing about 150 tb. Turkey opium is principally used in medicine on account of its purity and the large percentage of morphia that it contains, a comparatively small quantity being exported to China.

A number of varieties exist in commerce, differing in certain qualities, and, to a certain extent, in external character. These are generally exported under the names of the districts where they are prepared, but are more generally known in English commerce by the name of the port from which they are shipped. Thus, Constantinople opium includes the produce of Bogaditz, Karahissar Sahib, Kutchaya, Balukhissar, Kurkagatsch, Ghéve, Beybazar, Angora, Malatia, and Tokat, as well as Macedonian opium from Salonica. Smyrna opium comprises opium from Afium Karahissar, Ushak, Akhissar, Tanshauli, Isbarta, Koniyeh, Bulladan, Hamid, and Magnesia, and the Yerli varieties. In English commerce these are roughly divided into shipping, druggist’s, and manufacturer’s opium.

Shipping opium includes varieties of a pale or yellowish colour internally, of a soft consistence, and free from poppy débris, &c., or “chaff,” as it is technically called. Such opium affords a large amount of extract, and leaves very little insoluble residue when dissolved in water, and on this account is preferred in countries where opium-smoking or eating is practised. The principal varieties used for this purpose are Malatia (including that of Kharput), Tokat, Salonica, Balukhissar (including the produce of Kurkagatsch), Bogaditz, and the finest qualities of Angora and Yerli. The chief markets are China, Peru, the West India Islands, British Guiana, and Brazil; and the United States also purchase the same kinds for reshipment.

Druggist's opium includes the varieties purchased for use in medicine in European countries and the United States. It is generally of firmer consistence and rather darker colour than shipping opium. The finest varieties of this kind in English commerce are Bey bazar, Yerli, Karahissar (including Adet, Amasia, and Akhissar opiums), “Current” Smyrna, and Angora. Ushak, Yerli, and Karahissar opiums are purchased chiefly for the American market, and the Ghéve or Ismid opium for the Continental.

Manufacturer's opium includes chicanti or low-priced qualities of all varieties, and is used only for the manufacture of morphia. Persian opium is used for this purpose when Turkey opium is dear.

Malatia opium usually occurs in pieces of irregular shape, weighing from 1⅜ to 3 lb, and about 1⅜ to 2 inches thick, the “paste” or substance being soft and pale and remarkably free from foreign matter or “chaff,” and the exterior being covered with a bright bluish green leaf; the paste of Tokat is similar, but usually of thinner consistence and darker colour. Bogaditz opium is met with in smaller pieces, usually 2 to 3 oz., and is covered with a yellowish green leaf, the surface being rough with Rumex fruit. Occasionally, however, pieces are met with from 1 to 1⅜ lb in weight, still more rarely up to 4 lb in weight, approaching more nearly to the Balukhissar and Kurkagatsch varieties, which are usually similar to the Bogaditz, but in larger pieces. Karahissar opium is in rather large conical lumps; formerly the pieces frequently bore the impress of a poppy-head pressed into the top. The Adet, Akhissar, and Amasia opiums are very similar in appearance, and usually pass under the name of Karahissar. Angora opium usually occurs in small pieces carelessly prepared, so as to be rough and unsightly in appearance although of good quality. Occasionally samples of good colour, soft consistency, and excellent quality are met with, and these are always used as shipping opium. Yerli is a fine pasty or gummy opium, with a rough surface and with much Rumex fruit adhering to it. Ghéve or Ismid opium is usually in small rounded cakes, weighing about 2 to 3 oz. in weight. The pieces, known in trade as “Constantinople pats,” have a smooth shining appearance, with the midrib of the poppy-leaf they are wrapped in forming a median line on the surface. The interior often shows layers of light and dark colour. Yoghourma is a very inferior opium, and, as its name implies, is “remade” or made up at the port of shipment. It is usually sold to morphia manufacturers at a price determined by analysis.

In Macedonia opium culture was commenced in 1865 at Istip, with seed obtained from Karahissar in Asia Minor, and has since extended to the adjacent districts of Kotchava, Stroumnitza, Tikvish, ami Kinprulu-veles. The crop in 1882 was 135,000 lb of opium and 500,000 to 600,000 lb of seed, most of the drug being exported under the name of Salonica opium to Great Britain at prices ranging from 12s. 6d. to 16s. per lb. Macedonian opium, especially that produced at Istip, is very pure, yielding about 11 per cent, of morphia, and is considered equal to the Malatia produce. The Turkish Government encourage the development of the industry by remitting the tithes on opium and poppy-seed for one year on lands sown for the first time, and by distributing printed instructions for cultivating the poppy and preparing the opium. In these directions it is pointed out that the opium crop is ten times as profitable as that of wheat. Four varieties of poppy are distinguished,—two with white flowers, large oval capsules without holes under their “combs” (stigmas), and bearing respectively yellow and white seed, and the other two having red or purple flowers and seeds of the same colour, one bearing small capsules perforated at the top, and the other larger oval capsules not perforated. The white varieties are recommended as yielding a more abundant opium of superior quality. The yellow seed is said to yield the best oil; that obtained by hot pressure is used for lamps and for paint, and the cold-pressed oil for culinary purposes.

Opium is also grown in Bulgaria, but almost entirely for home consumption; any surplus produce is, however, bought by Jews and Turks at low prices and sent to Constantinople, where it is sold as Turkish opium. It is produced in the districts of Kustendil, Lowtscha, and Halitz, and is made into lumps weighing about 4 oz., of a light-brown colour internally, and containing a few seeds; it is covered with leaves which have not been identified. Samples that have been analysed by Herr Theegarten have yielded from 7 to 19 per cent, of morphia, and only 2 to 3 per cent, of ash, and are therefore of excellent quality.

India.— The poppy grown in India is generally the same as that used in Persia, but in the Himalayas a red-flowered variety with black seeds is met with. The largest amount of opium is produced in the central tract of the Ganges, extending from Dinajpur in the east to Agra in the west, and from Gorakhpur in the north to Hazaribagh in the south, and comprising an area of about 600 miles long by 200 broad. The region next in importance consists of the tableland of Malwa and the slopes of the Vindhya Hills in Indore.

The opium industry in Bengal is a Government monopoly, and the districts are divided into two agencies, Behar and Benares, which are under the control of officials residing respectively at Patna and Ghazipur. In 1883 463,829 acres were under poppy cultivation in the Behar agency, and 412,625 in that of Benares. Any one who chooses may undertake the industry, but cultivators are obliged to sell the opium exclusively to the Government agent at a price fixed beforehand by the latter, which is approximately 3s. 6d. per It>, the Government selling it at about Ils. per lb. The peasant is, however, said to be fully remunerated by the price he receives. It is considered that with greater freedom the cultivator would produce too great a quantity, and loss to the Government would soon result. Advances of money are often made by the Government to enable the ryots to grow the poppy.

In Malwa the cultivation is free and extremely profitable, the crop realizing usually from three to seven times the value of wheat or other cereals, and in exceptionally advantageous situations from twelve to twenty times as much. On its entering British territory a heavy duty is imposed on Malwa opium, so as to raise its price to an equality with the Government article. The tax was formerly collected at Indore only, but since other stations have been made at Ujjain, Jaora, and Udaipur the export has increased to 500 chests a month. Malwa opium is shipped from Bombay..

The area under poppy cultivation outside these...