India / China: The 'Stacking Rooms'l in a Patna opium factory with hundreds of opium balls prepared for use in the China trade. Lithograph, W. S. Sherwell, c. 1850

The finished opium balls are stored before shipping in the Stacking Room, where 'a number of boys are constantly engaged in stacking, turning, airing, and examining the balls. To clear them of mildew, moths or insects, they are rubbed with dried and crushed poppy petal dust'. Finally, the balls are transferred into cardboard boxes and loaded into ships bound for Calcutta and, ultimately, China.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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Pictures From History

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OPIUM