NEW  PROCESS  FOR  PURE  RESIN  OF  SCAMMONY.  275 
one  lime  to  produce  hyper-catharsis,  and  at  another  to  prove 
almost  inoperative.  This  uncertainty  of  action  is  chiefly  due  to 
the  great  difference  in  the  quality  of  the  drug,  and  chemical 
analysis  has  shown  that  the  resinous  matter,  to  which  its  activity 
is  due,  is  most  varying  in  quantity  in  different  samples,  being 
occasionally  as  high  as  86  per  cent.,  sometimes  even  as  low  as 
5.  It  is  also  a  well  known  fact  that  in  the  country  from  whence 
it  is  generally  procured,  no  little  ingenuity  is  exercised  by  those 
engaged  in  its  collection,  in  seeking  different  means  whereby  it 
can  be  adulterated,  and  chalk,  flour,  gypsum,  gummy  and  resin- 
ous exudations  from  other  plants,  besides  coarser  mechanical 
impurities,  are  often  contained  in  it  in  varying  quantities. 
To  avoid  this  liability  to  adulteration,  and  to  ensure  the 
employment  of  a  uniform  and  pure  drug,  it  has  been  proposed 
by  Mr.  Clark,  of  Sockia,  in  Asia  Minor,  to  Dr.  Williamson,  that 
the  roots  of  the  Convolvulus  Seammonia,  instead  of  being  tapped, 
as  in  the  ordinary  process  of  obtaining  scammony,  should  be 
dug  up,  and  the  drug  afterwards  obtained  by  treatment  of  the 
dried  root  with  alcohol,  according  to  a  process  already  made 
public.  The  physical  qualities  of  scammony  thus  prepared  differ 
considerably  from  that  usually  seen  in  commerce,  and  from 
virgin  scammony,  being  non-porous,  not  producing  a  lather  when 
rubbed  with  water,  and,  instead  of  possessing  a  musty  or  sour 
cheese-like  odor,  having  an  aromatic  and  fruity  smell,  exactly 
resembling  the  dried  untapped  root.  In  appearance,  when  in 
thin  layers,  it  much  resembles  the  scammony  which  is  occasion- 
ally seen  in  the  small  shells  (and  regarded  as  the  purest  form  of 
scammony),  being  transparent,  and  of  a  yellow  color.  In  com- 
position it  is  very  rich  in  resin,  being  almost  entirely  composed 
of  this  matter  in  the  state  of  a  resinous  acid.  At  different 
periods  during  the  last  two  years,  I  have  put  the  drug  prepared 
by  Messrs.  William  McAndrew  and  Sons'  to  a  full  and  severe 
trial,  comparing  it,  not  only  with  the  ordinary  scammony  found 
in  the  hospital,  the  origin  of  which  was  unknown,  but  also  with 
that  sold  at  Messrs.  Bell  and  Co.'s  establishment,  and  with  a 
drug  named  "best  virgin  scammony,"  and  supplied  by  Messrs. 
Horner  and  Son,  and  I  will  now  proceed  to  give  a  short  account 
of  the  results  I  have  obtained. 
