656 BOTANY AND PHARMACOGNOSY. 



BuTEA or Bengal kino is obtained from Butea monosperma, 

 a tree growing in Western India and Farther India. 



American dragon's blood, resembling black kino, is obtained 

 from P. Draco, of the West Indies and Guiana. A false dragon's 

 blood is obtained from Copaiba Mopane, of Southwestern Africa. 



A tannin resembling kino is obtained from the Jambul tree 

 {Syzygimn Jamholana) , of India. Tannin is also found in the 

 root bark of Jauihosa vulgaris, of the East Indies ; the bark of 

 Myrtus brabantica, of Mexico and Peru. A tannin and a color- 

 ing principle are found in the bark of Myrtus Arayan, of Mexico 

 and Peru. A tannin and resin are found in the bark of Psidium 

 Guajava, of South America and the West Indies ; Spcrmolcpis 

 gummifera, of New Caledonia, and the Myrtle tree {Myrtus 

 communis) , of Southern Asia and the Mediterranean region, the 

 tannin in the latter plant occurring in larger proportion in the 

 galls which are produced upon it. 



SCAMMONIUM. SCAMMONY. A gum-resin obtained 

 by incising the root of Convok'ulus Scammonia (Fam. Convolv- 

 ulaceae), a perennial, twining herb (p. 366) indigenous to Syria, 

 Asia Minor and Greece. The incisions are made in the upper 

 part of the root in June, and the exuding gum-resin is collected 

 in mussel shells, the product from a number of roots being mixed 

 together, after which it is allowed to dry. The principal points 

 of export are Smyrna and Aleppo. The natural exudation free 

 from extraneous matter is known as native or virgin scammony. 



Smyrna Scammony. In circular, flattened cakes, 10 to 12 

 cm. in diameter and about i cm. in thickness, or irregular, anguhr 

 pieces of variable size ; greenish-gray or brownish-black, often cov- 

 ered with a grayish-white powder, formed by the rubbing of the 

 pieces against one another in transportation ; very brittle ; fracture 

 sharp; internally porous, lustrous and of a uniform brownish- 

 black color, being more or less translucent in thin fragments ; odor 

 peculiar, somewhat cheese-like ; taste slightly acrid. 



Scammony is easily powdered and forms a milky emulsion 

 with water. It does not effervesce on the addition of diluted 

 hydrochloric acid (absence of calcium carbonate) ; an alcoholic 

 solution is not colored blue on the addition of tincture of ferric 

 chloride (absence of guaiac resin) ; ether dissolves not less than 



