642 



DRUGS, IS'ATICOTICS, ETC. 



Dr. Eussell ("Med. Obs. and Inqui.") thus describes tbe mode 

 of procuring scammony : — 



Having cleared awaj the earth from the upper part of the root, the peasants 

 cut off the top in an ohlique direction, about two inches belo-w where the stalks 

 spring from it. Under the most depending part of the slope they affix a shell, 

 or some other convenient receptacle, into which the milky juice flows. It is 

 then left about twelve hours, which time is sufficient for the drawing off of the 

 whole juice; this, however, is in small quantities, each root affording but a few 

 drachms, This milky juice from the several roots is put together, often into 

 the leg of an old boot, for want of some more proper vessel, when in a little 

 time it grows hard, and is the gemaine scammony. Various substances are often 

 added to scammony while yet soft. Those with which it is most usually adul- 

 terated are wheat flour, ashes, or fine sand and chalk. 



LiQroETCE. — The plant which yields the liquorice root of com- 

 merce is Glycirrliiza glabra or Liquirifia officinalis. It is a native 

 of Italy and the southern parts of Europe, but has been occasion- 

 ally cultivated with success in Britain, especially at Pontefi'act, in 

 Yorkshire, and at Mitcham, in Surrey. The plant is a perennial, 

 with pale blue flowers. It grows well in a deep, light, sandy loam, 

 and is readily increased by slips from the roots with eyes. The 

 root, which is the only valuable part, is long, slender, fibrous, of a 

 yelloAv color, and when grown in England is fit for use at the end 

 of three years. The sweet, sub-acid, mucilaginous juice is much 

 esteemed as a pectoral. It owes its sweetness to a peculiar 

 principle called glycrin or glycirrhiza, which appears also to be 

 present in the root and leaves of other papilionaceous plants, as 

 O. ecJiinata and glanduJifera, Trifolium alpinum, and the wild 

 liquorice of the West Indies, Abrus precaforius, a pretty climber. 



The greatest portion of our suppKes of the extract, which 

 amount to 7,000 or 8,000 cwts. a year, are obtained from Spain 

 and Sicily. The juice, obtained by crushing the roots in a mill, 

 and subjecting them to the press, is slowly boiled, till it becomes 

 of a proper consistency, when it is formed into rolls of a consider- 

 able thickness, which are usually covered with bay leaves. It is 

 afterwards usually re-dissolved, purified, and, when formed into 

 small quills, is known as refined liquorice. 



In 1839, 1,16G tons of liquorice paste were exported from 

 iSTaples, valued at £15 per ton. Mr. Poole, in his Statistics of 

 Commerce, states that the consumption of liquorice root and paste 

 in this country averages 500 tons per annum. 110 cwt. of the juice 

 and 100 cwt. of the root are annually brought into Hull Irom the 

 continent. 



Matico — the Peruvian styptic, a powerful vegetable astringent^ 

 was first made known to the medical profession of England hj Dr. 

 Jeffreys, of Liverpool, in the Lancet, as far back as January 5th, 

 1839. A paper on its history and power was published in May, 

 1843, in tlie " Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Sur- 

 gical Association," vol. 10. It is stated to be the Piper angusti- 

 folium of Euiz and Parsons. Dr. Martin believes it to be a 

 species of JPhlomis. The leaves are covered with a fine hair. 



