428 
Scammony  and  Resin  Scammonv.     Mm.  jour.  Pharm. 
J  \  September,  1910. 
into  the  last  revision  under  the  head  of  "  Adhesive  Plaster  "  should 
be  abandoned,  and  a  mass  or  base  more  nearly  resembling  that  of 
the  old  base  of  1880  be  restored :  That  if  such  a  course  could  be 
made  possible,  the  alternate  use  of  any  India  rubber  mass,  such 
as  now  employed  by  manufacturers,  be  allowed:  That  assay 
processes  be  prescribed  for  all  plasters  containing  alkaloids  or 
definite  medicinal  medicaments. 
SCAMMONY  AND  RESIN  SCAMMONY  * 
By  H.  Engelhardt  and  M.  R.  Schmidt. 
Considerable  work  has  recently  been  done  on  the  chemical 
and  physical  properties  of  the  several  substances  generally  classed 
as  scammony  resins.  Guigues,1  Cowie,2  and  Taylor 3  have  made 
important  contributions  to  our  knowledge  of  these  bodies,  but  it 
appears  that  the  end  is  not  yet  reached. 
The  whole  subject  is  more  complicated  than  would  appear  at 
first  sight,  and  great  confusion  exists,  especially  in  the  minds  of 
dealers,  as  to  what  is  covered  by  the  terms  scammony  and  resin 
scammony. 
The  U.S. P.  recognizes  as  official  two  substances:  scammony, 
which  is  the  exudate  obtained  by  incising  the  living  root  of  Con- 
volvulus scammonia,  and  resin  scammony,  which  is  prepared  by 
extracting  scammony  with  alcohol,  precipitating  the  resin  with 
water,  and  drying  at  a  gentle  heat. 
The  French  Codex  recognizes  the  same  substances. 
The  British  Pharmacopoeia.,  on  the  other  hand,  describes  virgin 
scammony,  resin  scammony.  and  scammony  root ;  the  virgin  scam- 
mony is  used  without  further  purification,  and  the  resin  scammony 
is  made  by  extracting  scammony  root  with  alcohol.  Consequently 
resin  scammony  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  is  not  necessarily 
identical  with  resin  scammony  of  the  U.S. P.  or  the  French  Codex. 
Of  late  years  there  has  appeared  on  the  market  another  sub- 
stance, the  so-called  Mexican  scammony,  prepared  by  extracting 
*  Read  at  the  meeting  of  the  A.  Ph.  A.  at  Richmond,  Va.,  May,  1910. 
xJourn.  de  Ph.  et  de  Ch.  (6)  11:  529  (1900)  ;  ibid.  (6)  22;  24  (1905); 
ibid.  (6)  24;  404,  440,  498  (1905)  ;  Bull.  Soc.  Chim.,  872  (1908^. 
2  Trans.  Brit.  Pharm.  Conf.,  1908;  457,  462;  Pharm.  lourn.,  Dec.  25,  1909. 
8  Am.  Journ.  Pharm.,  vol.  81,  105  (1909). 
