POWERHOUSE COLLECTION

Chinese morphine syringe

Object No. 96/253/3

This crude hand assembled syringe has a glass barrel with a horizontal cross piece of twisted wire and a brown residue still evident in the barrel. The head of the metal plunger is embossed with Chinese characters and the name 'Kosmos-Brenner', a German lamp manufacturer using this trade mark from 1899, suggesting it was initially a wick winding knob. An attached cardboard label reads, 'Morphine Syringe Used for cheap injections to Chinese Coolies'. Morphine was injected by some Chinese doctors and in designated morphine dens operating during the first few decades of the 20th century. The morphine was dissolved in distilled water, or other water considered to be pure, and injected under the skin or intravenously mostly without sterilisation of syringe or needle. The syringe is thought to have been collected in the early 20th century by Australian missionary J. Whitsed Dovey as part of a display and study collection used to educate missionaries about local Chinese medical practices. Opium smoking was widespread in China throughout the 19th century, and used as a tonic by hard working unskilled labourers as it suppressed hunger, dulled fatigue and relieved pain. The analgesic morphine is the most potent alkaloid present in opium and the name is derived from the Greek god of sleep Morpheus. Morphine was first isolated in Europe in the early decades of the 19th century and after the development of the hypodermic syringe began to be promoted for use by injection as a faster and more scientific method of treating patients. Originally advocated in China as an opium replacement cure at the turn of the 20th century, morphine was embraced as the new miracle drug from the West. Subsequent successive opium suppression campaigns by the Nationalist government restricted supply and put the price of opium higher than morphine. Rickshaw pullers and coolies were among the main consumers to switch to injected morphine, or sometimes heroin its semi-synthetic derivative, as they could no longer afford opium. This fascinating improvised glass syringe links to a historical period when Western pharmocology had begun to identify the active components of plant based medicines and experiment with their use.The isolation of morphine from crude opium proved one of the most important discoveries of nineteenth century medicine, especially in the development of analgesia and anaesthesia. This syringe points to the high potential for rapid addiction in the use of injectable morphine and other opiate derivatives, which has ensured they will remain a graphic illustration of potential risks of new therapies as well as the benefits. It illustrates the use of drugs as an aspect of Chinese culture and joins other artefacts associated with substance abuse in the Health and Medicine collection. References: Dikotter, Frank et al, 'Narcotic Culture: A Social History of Drug Consumption in China', British Journal of Criminology, 2002, 42, p317-336 Heinrich Michael et al, 'Fundamentals of Pharmacognosy and Phytotherapy', Churchill Livingstone, Oxford UK 2003, p99-100