334 UMBELLIFER.E 



tinguished by its strong, disagreeable, alliaceous odor, due to a 

 sulphuretted volatile oil present to the extent of 3 to 9 per cent. 

 On adding ammonia to a decoction of the sublimated resin, a blue 

 fluorescence is exhibited. Taste acrid, bitter, and alliaceous. 



When assayed by the official process asafcetida should contain 

 not less than 60 per cent, of alcohol soluble constituents. 

 VARIETIES. Besides the above-described variety, the amygdaloid, which 

 is the most common, there are other forms in which it enters the 

 market: 



Liquid asafoetida is a permanent, syrupy liquid, white, turning 

 brown on exposure. 



Asafcetida in tears is the purest variety. 



Stony asafoetida, never used medicinally, consists of pieces of 

 gypsum or other earthy material coated with a thin layer of the milk- 

 juice. 



CONSTITUENTS. The greater part of asafcetida consists of a gum (20 to 

 30 per cent.) and resin (50 to 70 per cent.). These, with the vola- 

 tile oil (3 to 9 per cent.), form with water a milky emulsion. The 

 resin is regarded by Tschirch as the ferulic ester of asaresino-tannol, 

 C 2 4H35O 5 , which, by sublimation, yields umbelliferone. There is 

 also contained in the drug vanillin 0.06 per cent., ferulic acid, Cio- 

 HioO4, 1.28 per cent. The resin, when fused with KOH, yields 

 resorcin and protocatechuic acid. The mineral impurities often 

 amount to 40 %, especially in that imported from Herat, where it is 

 adulterated with red clay. Ash (of Resin), not to exceed 15 per cent.; 

 (Powder), not to exceed 30 per cent. 



For an exhaustive treatise on Gum Resins, etc., the student is referred to "Anal- 

 ysis of Resins, Balsams and Gum Resins, Their Chemistry and Pharmacognosis," 

 by Carl Dietrich (Scott, Greenwood & Co., London). 



ACTION AND USES. Asafcetida combines the properties of a stimulating 

 antispasmodic with those of an efficient expectorant, making it a 

 valuable remedy in spasmodic affections of the respiratory tract, as 

 whooping-cough, asthma, etc. It is also a laxative, especially useful 

 in cases of flatulence. Dose: 5 to 8 gr. (0.3 to 0.5 Gm.). 



OFFICIAL PREPARATIONS. 



Emulsum Asafoetidse (4 per cent.), Dose: 2 to 4 fl. dr. (8 to 15 mils). 



Tinctura Asafcetidae (20 per cent.) 10 to 40 njj (0.6 to 2.6 mils). 



Pilulae Asafoetidae (each pill containing 

 about 3 gr. of asafoetida, with soap as 

 an excipient), 2 to 5 pills. 



398. GALBANUM. GALBANUM. A gum-resin imported from. Persia, but the 

 botanical source of which is not definitely decided; it is generally considered, 

 however, as a spontaneous exudation from Feru'la galbani'flua Boissier et 

 Buhse, and other species of Ferula, large plants growing in that region. It is 

 usually met with in pale yellow or brownish tears, ranging in size from a pea to 

 a hazelnut, occasionally separate and with a shining, varnished surface, but 



