187 CONVOLVULUS SCAMMONIA 



average quantity would appear to be about sixty grams. The 

 shells are usually left till the evening, when they are collected, 

 and the cut part of the root is also scraped with a knife to 

 remove the dry or partially dry tears of scammony which adhere 

 to it. The contents of the shells which are softer than the 

 portions scraped from the roots, are called by the Smyrna 

 peasants, gala or milk, and the latter kaimalc or cream. Some of 

 the scammony is 'generally allowed to dry in the shells, and is 

 kept for use by the peasants ; but scammony in shells is not met 

 with in commerce. 



Commercial scammony is obtained by the peasants emptying 

 the contents of the shells and the portions scraped from the 

 roots into a copper pot or leathern bag, which is carried home, 

 and then the whole is incorporated with a knife into a homo- 

 geneous mass, which is at once allowed to dry. In this state 

 the scammony is of the finest quality ; but such scammony 

 is very rarely met with ; for usually the peasant, instead 

 of drying off the scammony directly, allows his daily gather- 

 ings to accumulate until he has obtained a pound or more ; 

 he then softens it by exposure to sunshine, after which it is 

 kneaded, either by itself, or by the addition of a little water, 

 into a plastic mass, and finally dried. This constitutes the 

 ordinary fine scammony of commerce known as Virgin Scam- 

 mony. Scammony thus prepared, although containing no foreign 

 substances, is not so good as that dried off as it is collected, for 

 by its long retention in a semi-liquid state and exposure to heat, 

 it undergoes fermentation, and acquires a dark colour and a 

 strong cheesy odour ; and when dried it has a porous or bubbly 

 structure. These latter characters are not to be found in the 

 scammony allowed to dry in the shell, or in that which is 

 collected from the shells, &c., and dried off at once. Pure 

 scammony is very liable to become mouldy, and also, after some 

 time, to be covered with a white crystalline efflorescence ; but 

 such changes do not occur if the scammony is kept quite dry. 



Scammony is very much adulterated ; commonly by the 

 peasants themselves before it is brought to the market ; but also 



