Opioid selling Indian opium which was smuggled into China in defiance of Chinese government bans. This led to the First (1839–1842) and Second Opium Wars (1856–1860) between China and Britain. In the 19th century, two major scientific advances were made that had far-reaching effects. Around 1804, German pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner isolated morphine from opium. He described its crystallization, structure, and pharmacological properties in a well-received paper in 1817. Morphine was the first alkaloid to be isolated from any medicinal plant, the beginning of modern scientific drug discovery. The second advance, nearly fifty years later, was the refinement of the hypodermic needle
An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China An Authentic Account of an Embassy from the King of Great Britain to the Emperor of China; Including Cursory Observations made, and Information obtained, in travelling through that Ancient Empire and a small part of Chinese Tartary (1797) is the official report on the British Macartney Embassy to China that took place between 1792- 1794. It was written down after the return to England by the Secretary to the mission Sir George Leonard Staunton, 1st Baronet (1737-1801), based on his own observations and