I have an unconventional request regarding how opium was processed in
the 1800's. While studying artifacts from an opium drugrunner shipwreck, I
came across a two-inch diameter brownish-white ball with a half-inch iron
core. The ship was known to have shipped opium from India to Canton, China
in the mid-1800's. I understand that opium may have been shipped in the form
of balls; but why the iron core? Someone suggested the iron ball deceived the
buyer of the true weight. I theorize that the iron ball may have been rolled
on a board covered with sticky opium, thus causing the opium to stick to the
iron and grow like a rolling snowball. The iron ball provided a spherical
surface and the inertia required to keep it stationary on a randomly moving
board. Does anyone have any ideas? I know very little about opium! Does
opium dissolve in seawater? Thanks.
 
                                                  Norman Thomas
                                                  UC-LLNL
    "Old archaeologists never fade,               L-350 P.O. Box 808
     they become buried artifacts"                7000 East Ave. B235 R1027
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