The export to China in 1921 of 12,642 1b. of opium requires a little. explanation. China does not permit the importation of foreign opium except for medical purposes and this amounts to only a few pounds per annum. If the word China connotes Formosa, Tsingtao, Dairen, Macao and Hongkong, explanation' is still wanting, for in 1921 Hongkong alone imported for re-exportation 223 chests of Persian opium, which is more than double the above amount stated in pounds. Where did it go?
As Persian opium is imported almost exclusively for morphia manufacture, this one export would more than yield the amount of morphia necessary for the world's medical needs for a year.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.