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 

 {Sysygimn Janibolana), of India. Tannin is also found in the 

 root bark of Jambosa 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 Ardyan, of Mexico 

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

 Guajava, of South America and the West Indies; Spermolepis 

 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 Convolvulus 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, angular 

 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 



