SCAMMONY. 



539 



bitter. A decoction of this pulp in water, and 

 then evaporated, forms the extract of colooynth 



Colocynth, 



used in medicine. The pulp is very hitter ; hence 

 the terms hitter apple, devil's apple, &c., by 

 whicli it is popularly known. This very power 

 f'ul purgative is the kolokuntMs of the ancient 

 Greeks, and tlie alhandat of the Arabian physi- 

 cians. It was frequently used by both in different 

 diseases, though not without an apprehension of 

 danger from the violence of its effects, of which 

 various instances are related. In doses of ten to 

 twelve grains, it acts vehemently on the intestines, 

 frequently producing violent gripes. The best 

 method of abating its violence without dimin- 

 ishing its purgative effect, is to triturate it with 

 gummy, farinaceous substances, or oily seeds, 

 and form it into an emulsion. 



In the proportion of one or two grains, it may 

 be combined with aloes or rhubarb, and forms 

 a safe and excellent pill in all cases where the 

 bowels and constitution are of an indolent nature. 

 The seeds are perfectly bland, and highly nutri- 

 tious; and in northern Africa are used by the 

 natives as a common article of food. 



SoAMMONY C convolvulus scammonia J. Natural 

 family convolvulacete; pentandria, monogynia, of 



Scammony, 



Linnseus. This plant grows in abundance about 

 Maarash, Antioch, Edlib, and towards Tripoli, 

 in Syria; and was first introduced into England 

 by Gerard, in 1597. The root is from three to I 



four feet in length, and from nine to twelve 

 inches in circumference, covered with bark of a 

 light gray colour. It is perennial, tapering, 

 branched towards the bottom, and contains a 

 milky juice. The stalks are numerous, slender, 

 twining, and spread themselves upon the ground 

 or neighbouring trees, to the extent of fifteen 

 or twenty feet. The leaves are arrow-shaped, 

 smooth, of a bright green colour, and stand upon 

 long footstalks. The flowers are funnel-shaped, 

 yellow plicated, and placed in pairs upon the 

 pedicles. The capsule is multilocular, and con- 

 tains seeds of a pyramidical shape. 



It is from the milky juice of the root that the 

 scammony of medicine is procured, no other 

 part of the plant possessing any active qualities. 

 The mode of procuring the juice is as follows : 

 The peasantry having cleared away the earth 

 from about the root, they cut off the top in an 

 oblique direction about two inches below where 

 the stalks spring from it. Under the most 

 depending part of the slope, they fix a shell or 

 some other convenient receptacle, into which 

 the milky juice gradually flows. It is left there 

 about twelve hours, which time is sufficient for 

 drawing off the whole juice. This, however, 

 is in small quantity, each root affording but a 

 very few drams. The juice from the several 

 roots is put together, often into the leg of an old 

 boot for want of some more proper vessel, where, 

 in a little time, it grows hard, and forms the 

 genuine scammony.* It is a green resin, gen- 

 erally of a light, shining gray colour, and friable 

 texture. It is brought from Aleppo and Smyrna; 

 that which comes from the latter place is less 

 valued than the former, and is supposed to be 

 more ponderous, and of a deeper colour; but the 

 colour affords no test of the goodness of this 

 drug, which seems to depend entirely upon the 

 purity of the concrete juice. The smell is rather 

 unpleasant, and the taste bitterish, and slightly 

 acrid. The different proportions of gum and 

 resin, of which it consists, have been variously 

 stated; but as it dissolves entirely in proof spirits, 

 this shows that the two substances must be in 

 nearly equal proportions. 



Scammony was well known to the Greek and 

 Arabian physicians, and was not only employed 

 internally as a purgative, but also as an exter- 

 nal remedy for tumours and diseases of the 

 skin. In small doses of two or three grains, it 

 may be given alone; but it is more frequently 

 used combined with other purgatives, as aloes 

 and colocynth. 



Jalap ( convolvolus jalapa ) . This is another 

 plant of the genus ipomas, nearly allied to the 

 former. It is a native of Xalapa, in Mexico, 

 hence probably its name. The root is perennial, 

 large, heavy, of an irregular oval form, black 



* Dr Russcl. 



