PRODUCTION  OF  SCAMMO.VY  NEAR  SMYRNA. 
139 
and  so  on  to  the  bottom.  The  pans  in  the  lower  series  are  kept  hot 
by  pipes,  which  pass  under  them  in  a  zig-zag  form,  through  which 
pipes  hot  water,  steam,  or  hot  air  circulates.  The  liquor,  in  pass- 
ing through  this  apparatus,  has  its  ammonia  sublimed  into  the  up- 
per part,  the  water  running  out  by  a  pipe  at  the  bottom. — London 
Pharm.  Journal,  Aug.  1853. 
(To  be  continued.) 
ON  THE  PRODUCTION  OF  SCAMMONY  IN  THE  NEIGHBORHOOD 
OF  SMYRNA. 
By  Sidney  H.  Maltass,  Esq. 
The  scammony  plant,  called  by  the  Greek  ^x^u^via,  and  by  the 
Turks  Mamoutici  (by  which  last  name  it  is  also  designated  by 
the  Greeks  of  Anatolia),  grows  wild  not  only  in  all  parts  of  Ana- 
tolia, but  also  in  Syria  and  in  some  of  the  Greek  and  Turkish 
islands  of  the  Archipelago.  It  affects  mountainous  districts,  but 
is  also  found  in  the  plains  and  in  open  ground,  flourishing  most 
luxuriantly  among  the  Juniper,  Arbutus,  and  wild  Valonea  bushes, 
which  afford  both  shelter  and  support  for  its  branches,  and  whose 
decayed  leaves  form  a  light  soil  favorable  to  "its  growth.  The  root 
is  succulent,  and  shaped  like  a  carrot :  when  about  four  years  old, 
it  is  generally  one  or  two  inches  in  diameter  at  the  crown,  whence 
it  tapers  gradually  to  the  extremity,  with  occasional  fibres,  its 
length  varying  from  ten  inches  to  two  or  even  three  feet,  according 
to  the  depth  of  soil.  Sometimes  it  attains  a  larger  size,  and  in  a 
few  instances  has  been  found  of  four  or  even  five  inches  diameter 
at  the  crown.  The  color  of  the  flower  is  usually  of  a  pale  yellow, 
or  white  with  red  external  stripes.  The  root  is  the  same,  what- 
ever the  color  of  the  flower  may  be,  and  there  is  no  perceptible 
difference  in  the  leaf.  There  is  no  distinguishing  peculiarity  in 
the  scammony  produced  from  plants  bearing  different  colored 
flowers,  the  roots  of  which  are  cut  by  the  peasants  indiscrimi- 
nately, although  the  yellow  flowered  plant  is  the  more  abundant. 
The  only  perceptible  difference  in  quality  is  occasioned  by  the 
soil.  The  scammony  which  has  the  strongest  odor  h  that  pro- 
duced in  mountainous  districts  and  on  a  poor  soil ;  rich  soils  and 
marshy  ground  produce  a  scammony-juice  containing  a  larger  pro- 
