STATISTICS OF THE WEATHER.

Average temperature for fifty-eight years.

The following interesting table is derived from a meteorological account of the weather, by Charles Pierce, Esq., of Philadelphia. The record of each day was made at or before sunrise, and at two and ten o'clock, P. M. The uniformity of the temperature will be a matter of surprise to many. Only in one year has there been a difference of five degrees, and that was in 1816, when there was ice in every month. In twenty of the other years, the temperature did not vary one degree. Those who may desire to see the work of Mr. Pierce, which is truly an entertaining and curious book, will find it at the store of the publishers of this Journal.

Average Temperature of each Month in the year, from January 1, 1790, to March, 1848.

A statement of the expenses of the national armories, and of the number of arms, &c., manufactured during the year ending on the 30th of last June, has just been made. The total expenditure has been $516,129 45, of which $253,304 84 was incurred at Springfield, and $262.824 61 at Harper's Ferry. There have been manufactured 26,300 percussion muskets, 3,054 percussion rifles, 201 musketoons, 4,299 ball screws, 45.608 screw drivers, 23,475 wipers, 5,163 spring vices, 19,644 extra cones, 8,868 cone picks, and 435 bullet moulds.

(ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.)

OPIUM AND THE OPIUM TRADE.

By an American, lately a resident in China.

THE accession to the throne of China of the Mantchoo Tartars, terminated a long-continued and bloody warfare, and was succeeded by a peace which promised to be lasting. Although the Chinese were compelled to yield submission to their implacable northern foes, yet their national character was not lost, neither were the peculiar institutions of their country subverted. The same laws which for "tens of centuries" had exerted their salutary influence, were in the main continued in force, and China instead of being weakened by its change of rulers, received a new element of strength from the hardy Tartars who had invaded it. Unconscious of danger from the wide-spreading influence and increasing power of the nations beyond the "four seas," and still confident that its duration would equal that of time itself, the "middle kingdom" was slumbering in security, an easy prey to any bold adventurer.

The slumber was at length broken, and the adventurer came. No threats of punishment for violated faith, no mighty conquests of neighboring kingdoms foretold his onward progress. But an instrument of death more powerful than the sword, and more "terrible than an army with banners," preceded him. Silently and stealthily it entered the walled-domain; rapidly it spread a direful mania around. An idle few, by birth and fortune placed above the common herd, first felt its influence. From them it extended to the literati, and thence spread among the soldiery and common people, until all classes became infected with an appetite in which dwelt not only disease, wretchedness and death, but the means of the overthrow, already partially accomplished, of the mighty empire which had so long withstood unscathed the elements which had laid in the dust many of the most powerful nations of the globe. That instrument was Opium.

The use of opium, whether we view it in its direct effect upon its victims, or in its prospective influence upon the nation, is one of the most interesting subjects connected with China. The writer of this can truly say, that for him, it surpasses in interest all others. Having been a personal witness of the disease, misery and wretchedness produced by this pernicious drug upon many in that country, he naturally felt a deep sympathy for them, and when he reflected upon the serious consequences to the nation which had already resulted from its use, he could not resist the temptation to avail himself of all the means at his command for informing himself upon the

subject. Although he cannot expect that others will share with him in an equal degree this interest, yet he hopes to furnish some means of entertainment and instruction by a description of the cultivation of the poppy, the manufacture of opium, the trade in it, the effect of its use upon the people, and the calamities it is destined to bring upon the Chinese nation. Although he will chiefly devote himself to the subject as it relates to China-showing the evils of the traffic in the drug, and charging the responsibilities where they justly belong-yet he may find it necessary to speak of other countries, in describing the effect of opium as shown in the different methods of its use.

Opium is the concrete juice of the papaver somniferum. Whether it was first employed as a medicinal drug, or for the purpose of producing the pleasing and peculiar intoxication attendant upon its use, is not known. That the ancients were familiar with its effects is not doubted. Horace speaks of it under the name of oros Myxwv, and in his Odyssey thus describes its effect:

"Charmed with that potent drug, the exalted mind,

All sense of woe, delivers to the wind-
It clears the cloudy front of wrinkled care,
And dries the tearful sluices of despair.
Though on the blazing pile his parent lay,
Or a lov'd brother groaned his life away,
From morn to eve, impassive and serene,

The man entranced would view the deathful scene."

Virgil calls the plant from which it is obtained, "ceriale papaver," and Ovid, knowing its soporific effect, crowns the night with it. Though probably a native of Asia Minor, the poppy has been introduced and cultivated with varied success, in almost every part of the world. In Italy, France, and some other countries of Europe, it is grown for the sake of the oil which is obtained from the seeds. In Turkey the cultivation is carried on extensively, and it is there grown entirely for the sake of the opium which it yields. The use of intoxicating liquors being forbidden by the laws of Mahomet, the Turks resort to this drug when they wish a temporary relief from their cares. The product of opium in Turkey is estimated at about 3000 chests per annum.

In Persia it is also cultivated, and there, it is said, the habit of chewing opium is more prevalent even than in Turkey. In Sumatra, Borneo, Celebes, Java and Penang, it is grown, but its yield is not sufficient to supply the demands for the drug. In the small islands of Java, the quantity consumed yearly exceeds 1000 chests. The inhabitants of the Malay peninsula smoke opium and chew tobacco, which is the reverse of the Turkish custom. In India, the opium pipe is presented by the host to his visiters, as is tea in China. In Siam, opium was formerly used extensively, but its use is now strictly forbidden by

law. In a commercial treaty into which the Siamese entered with the English East India Company in 1833, opium is declared a prohibited article. In England and in our own country, the poppy is found as an ornamental plant in gardens, and opium is used generally as an article of medicine. The abuse of opium, however, is doubtless increasing among us, and so much so as to create alarm in the minds of many members of the medical profession. In China, however, its consumption exceeds that of any other, and I think I might with truth say, of every other country. The great amount of opium consumed by the Chinese is brought from India. Malwa, Benares and Patna are the chief opium districts in that country. In Malwa, a district still under its native princes, the manufacture of opium is open to all who wish to engage in it; but the English government in India impose heavy transit duties upon the drug while it is passing through their territory to the places of shipment. This duty, previous to 1835, amounted to 175 rupees per chest; in that year it was reduced to 125 rupees, but by a late order it has been raised to 400 rupees per chest. The product of Malwa during the year 1847 was 30,000 chests, which shows a revenue to the English government from transit duties on opium raised in a single district, of 1,200,000 rupees, or 552,000 dollars.

In Benares and Patna the cultivation of the poppy and the manufacture of opium are under a strict government monopoly. This monopoly may be traced as far back as the commencement of British influence in Bengal.

In 1773, the trade, which before was considered a part of the emoluments of certain officers of the government, was assumed by the company. In 1797, the cultivation of the poppy was restricted to Benares and Patna, and discontinued in other parts of the Company's territory. In the same year an edict was promulgated against the cultivation of the poppy, and the manufacture or sales of opium except for the benefit of the company, and this has continued in force to this day. Should an individual undertake the cultivation of the poppy without having entered into arrangements with the government to deliver the product at the fixed rates, his property would be immediately attached, and the ryot* would be compelled either to destroy his poppies, or give security for the faithful delivery of the product. Nay, according to a late writer, the growing of opium is compulsory on the part of the ryot. Advances are made by the English government through its native servants, and if the ryot refuses the advance, the simple plan is adopted of throwing the rupees into his house. Then the poor native has no remedy. He has received a price for a certain amount of

Ryot-renter of land-peasant.