PRODUCTION  OF  SCAMMONY  NEAR  SMYRNA. 
145 
kind  is  prepared  principally  by  the  Jews  and  in  Smyrna  only  ;  the 
following  is  the  process  : — A  quantity  of  scammony  of  inferior  kind 
containing  earth,  woody  substances  and  occasionally  gum,  as  brought 
from  the  interior,  is  mixed  with  about  forty  per  cent,  of  skilip  or 
inferior  Angora  scammony,  such  as  has  been  already  described. 
This  having  been  affected  by  pounding,  warm  water  is  added  and 
the  mixture  placed  in  a  shallow  iron  dish  beneath  which  another 
of  the  same  shape,  but  of  larger  proportions,  and  half  filled  with 
water,  is  set  over  a  charcoal  fire  to  act  as  a  water-bath.  When 
the  scammony  is  thoroughly  melted  and  one  kind  has  amalgamated 
with  the  other,  which  usually  requires  about  half  an  hour,  the  con- 
tents of  the  dish  are  removed  on  to  a  sheepskin  and  rolled  with  the 
hands  till  cold.  It  is  then  made  into  flat  or  oval  cakes  or  loaves  with 
rounded  tops,  which  are  next  washed  over  with  a  solution  of  pure 
scammony  to  give  them  a  gloss,  and,  lastly,  placed  in  a  room  with 
open  windows  to  dry.  This  scammony  usually  contains  about  fifty 
per  cent,  of  pure  resin. 
The  other  kind  is  called  Second  quality  prepared,  and  is  made 
in  a  similar  manner.  It  is  composed  of  about  sixty  per  cent,  of 
inferior  Angora  scammony  or  skilip,  thirty  per  cent,  of  a  better 
kind  from  the  neighborhood  of  Smyrna,  to  which  are  added  about 
ten  per  cent,  of  gum  arabic  and  black-lead.  This  scammony  con- 
tains about  thirty  per  cent,  of  resin,  fifty  per  cent,  of  starch  and 
white  earth,  and  the  remainder  woody  substances,  gum,  &c.  Other 
proportions  are  occasionally  used. 
The  small  quantity  of  scammony  that  can  be  obtained  pure  has 
induced  me  to  resort  to  the  use  of  the  alcohol  for  extracting  the  resin 
from  some  of  the  inferior  qualities  of  the  drug.  The  process  is  not 
adopted  in  any  other  part  of  Turkey,  nor  by  anyone  at  Smyrna  than 
myself.    It  is  as  follows  : 
A  bottle  half-full  of  impure  scammony  is  filled  up  with  distilled 
spirit  of  wine  and  allowed  to  remain  for  several  days  until  the  liquid 
assumes  the  appearance  of  brown  sherry ;  it  has  then  taken  up  as 
much  scammony  as  it  can  hold  in  solution.  This  is  poured  off  intc 
another  vessel  and  fresh  spirit  added  to  the  residue,  on  which  it  is 
allowed  stand  two  days  and  then  strained  through  a  cloth.  These 
spirituous  solutions  having  been  allowed  to  stand  until  they 
have  deposited  any  impurity  held  in  suspension,  are  mixed,  and 
then  decanted  into  cold  water,  when  the  resin  of  scammony  is  pre- 
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