PRODUCTION  OF  SCAMMONY  NEAR  SMYRNA. 
143 
One  of  the  best  characters  of  genuine  scamraony  is  its  golden  red- 
dish color  when  reduced  to  small  fragments.  Black  scammony  is  in- 
deed to  be  met  with,  but  it  is  uncommon  (unless  it  be  adulterated), 
nor  do  I  consider  it  perfectly  pure. 
The  scammony  which  is  next  best  to  that  collected  by  the  Greek 
peasants  of  Smyrna  is  that  collected  by  the  Turkish  peasants.  It 
is  black  in  color,  heavier,  and  does  not  break  so  readily  ;  this  is  occa- 
sioned by  pieces  of  the  root  being  scraped  off  whilst  removing  the 
hard  drops  which  adhere  to  it.  The  Turks  prefer  sedentary  work  to 
any  which  requires  activity,  and  as  they  know  that  a  portion  of  scam- 
mony is  left  in  the  roots  that  they  have  already  cut,  they  content 
themselves  with  pulling  up  these,  rather  than  perambulate  the  coun- 
try in  search  of  fresh.  These  roots,  they  pound  with  stones  and 
then  boil  them  ;*  after  removing  from  the  decoction  the  larger 
pieces,  the  remainder  of  it  is  thrown  upon  the  scammony  and  worked 
up  with  it.  This  occasions  the  quantity  of  fibre  or  vegetable  sub- 
stance which  is  found  in  some  samples  of  scammony. 
Most  of  the  peasants  adulterate  the  scammony  before  bringing  it 
to  market.  One  process  is  as  follows  :  after  the  scammony  is  mixed 
with  water,  a  certain  quantity  of  white  chalky  earth  is  added.  The 
earth  is  first  sifted  through  a  silk  handkerchief,  so  as  to  make  it 
fine  enough  to  prevent  detection  by  the  touch,  while  the  scammony 
is  in  a  liquid  state ;  the  peasant  adds  earth  according  to  his  fancy, 
from  10  to  150  per  cent.  The  color  of  soft,  moist  scammony  is  not 
affected  by  the  addition  of  earth,  unless  the  quantity  exceeds  20 
per  cent ;  when  dry,  it  is  apparent  to  any  one  acquainted  with  the 
drug. 
The  Turkish  peasants  sell  their  scammony  in  the  different  towns 
in  the  interior  of  Anatolia.  Being  poor,  they  cannot  afford  copper 
vessels  such  as  are  used  by  the  Greeks ;  they  consequently  use 
pumpkins  hollowed  out,  skins  and  earthen  pots.  The  Jews  arid 
Greeks  are  the  principal  buyers  of  this  scammony,  but  as  they  are 
not  well  acquainted  with  the  drug,  they  do  not  .separate  the  good 
from  the  bad,  but  throw  it  in  promiscuously,  while  still  fresh,  into 
cotton  bags.  The  bags  are  then  put  into  drums  and  sent  into  Smyrna 
for  sale.  There  this  scammony  frequently  remains  for  some  time 
and  becomes  partially  mouldy  ;  when  purchased,  it  is  turned  out, 
but  being  half  dry  it  cannot  be  made  into  flat  cakes  like  the  pure 
*  Sometimes  a  decoction  of  the  leaves  and  stalks  is  also  used. 
