440 CONVOLVULACEiE. 



golden-brown, transparent, gummy-looking substance : — this is pure 

 scaTnmony} 



The method followed in collecting scammony for use appears to be 

 nearly the same in all localities. It has been thus described to lis by 

 two eye-witnesses, both long resident in the East.^ Operations com- 

 mence by clearing away the bushes among which the plant is commonly 

 found ; the soil around the latter is then removed, so as to leave 4 or 5 

 inches of the root exposed. This is then cut off in a slanting direction 

 at 2 to 4 inches below the crown, and a mussel-shell is stuck into it just 

 beneath the lowest edge, so as to receive the milky-sap which instantly 

 flows out. The shells are usually left till evening, when they are col- 

 lected, and the cut part of the root scraped with a knife, so as to remove 

 a.ny partially dried drops of juice. These latter are called by the 

 Smyrna peasants, kaimiak or cream, the softer contents of the shell being 

 called gala or milk. 



Sometimes the scammony is allowed to dry in the shell, and such 

 must be regarded as representing the drug in its utmost perfection. 

 But scammony in shells is not brought into commerce, though a little 

 of it is reserved by the peasants for their own use. 



The contents of the shells and the scraped-ofF drops are next emptied 

 into a covered copper pot or a leathern bag, carried home, made homo- 

 genous by mixing with a knife, and at once allowed to dry. In this 

 way a form of scammony is obtained closely approaching that dried in 

 the shell. But it is a quality of exceptional goodness. Usually the 

 peasant does not dry off the juice promptly, but allows his daily gather- 

 ings to accumulate ; and when he has collected a pound or two, he 

 places it in the sunshine to soften, and then kneads it, sometimes with 

 the addition of a little water, into a plastic mass, which he lastly allows 

 to dry. By this long exposure to heat, and retention in a liquid state, 

 the scammony juice undergoes fermentation, acquires a strong cheesy 

 odour and dark colour, and when finally dried, exhibits a more or less 

 porous or bubbly structure, never observable in shell scammony. 



Scammony is very extensively adulterated. The adulteration is 

 often performed by the peasants, who mix foreign substances into the 

 drug while it is yet soft ; and it is also effected by the dealers, some of 

 whom purchase it of the peasants in a half -dried state. The substances 

 used for sophistication are numerous, the commonest and most easily 

 detected being, according to our experience, carbonate of lime and flour. 

 Woodashes, earth (not always calcareous), gum arable, and tragacanth 

 are also employed ; more rarely, wax, yolk of egg, pounded scammony 

 roots, rosin, or black-lead. 



Description — The pure juice of the root, simply dried by exposure 

 to the sun and air, is an amorphous, transparent, brittle substance, of 

 resinous aspect, a yellowish-brown colour, and glossy fracture. Scam- 

 mony possessing these characters is occasionally met with in the form 

 of flatfish irregular masses, about ^ to f of an inch in thickness, very 

 brittle by reason of internal fissures, yet with but few air-cavities. In 



^ Named probably from Sx-a/u/xa, s, trench found in Pharm. Journ. xiii. (1854)264; 



ov pit, in allusion to the excavation made theotherisMr. Edward T.Rogers, formerly 



around the root. of Caiffa, now (1874) British Consul at 



^ The one was the late Mr. S. H. Maltass Cairo, 

 of Smyrna, whose interesting paper may be 



