ON THE SCAMMONY AND JALAP OF COMMERCE. 
221 
No. 4. Called 
5. 
6 . 
7. 
8 . 
H 
)) 
Percentage of resin 
soluble in etber. 
“ Virgin,” per Hon. Sec. . 64-66 
,, .... 5962 
“Aleppo” .... 27-89 
„ .... 3039 
„ .... 18-22 
To whom pertains the responsibility of this very unsatisfactory state of 
things P The Turks and Greeks tell us they cannot get a remunerative price, 
and the English merchant says he cannot induce the Turks to be honest; and 
possibly both have a considerable amount of truth on their side. There can 
be little doubt upon this fact, that sophisticated and spurious kinds meet a 
readier market and realize an infinitely better return upon their intrinsic 
value, than do the richer and more valuable sorts. If the public will not pay 
an adequate price for a genuine article, but will be content with something 
bearing truly the name and external appearance of scammony at their own 
price, they must not be surprised when informed that they have bought 
scammony, but plus something else—they have demanded a cheap article, and 
must not grumble at paying the artist for so generously pandering to their 
taste. This is simply in obedience to the law of supply and demand. But 
should the very scrupulous Jews and Turks—finding their compounds are 
received so complacently, and the prices they realize indicate that we are no 
judges of intrinsic worth—increase the percentage of “ skillip ’’ in conformity 
to their own conscience, can w e wonder or very much blame them P The 
responsibility rests with ourselves, and the probable result of the introduction 
of a definite preparation in the Pharmacopoeia of the resin scammony w ill do 
a very great deal to put a stop to the trade in adulterated scammony. 
It has been asserted, however, that this new preparation, Scammonise resina 
of the British Pharmacopoeia, has become the subject of adulteration, but the 
utmost we can gather from the following results is, that at least it is sometimes 
very carelessly prepared. 
Analysis of Four Samples of Scammonise resina , B.P. 
Scammonise resina. Sol. in Ether. 
A. . . 9826 
B. . . 92-55 
C. . . 86-21 
D. . . 95-81 
Sol. in Alcohol. Sol. in Water. 
— 1-74 
5-54 1-90*' 
8-42 4-37 
1-68 2-51 
B. and C. appear to have been carelessly prepared, the saccharine and ex¬ 
tractive matter not having been thoroughly washed out, nor the resin perfectly 
dried afterwards. To a smaller extent r the same remark applies to D., a 
sample received through the Hon. Sec. 
Of jalap, its powder or resin, only one specimen of each was received 
through the Hon. Sec. 
Commercially speaking, there are at the present time only two varieties of 
Jalap—the Vera Cruz and the Tampico. The Pharmacopoeia orders the 
tuberous root of the Fxagmium purga, and therefore it onty should be em* 
ployed in pharmacy. Fair average samples of this jalap yield in the laboratory, 
according to my experience, an average of 38 per cent, of extract, prepared 
according to the directions of the British Pharmacopoeia, 42 per cent, being 
the maximum, and 35T per cent, the minimum result. Tampico jalap, on the 
other hand, yields very uncertain results, and the extract obtained is very 
different in its constitution to that produced from the true Vera Cruz. A 
careful analysis of the two varieties gave the following results:— 
