NEW   PROCESS  FOR  PURE  RESIN  OF  SCAMMONY.  27T 
scammony  given  as  mistura  scammonii,  ten  grains  being  rubbed 
up  and  suspended  by  means  of  compound  tragacanth  powder  in 
each  ounce  of  water.  Of  this  mixture  ten  or  eleven  fluiddrachms 
were  administrated  to  several  patients,  with  the  effects  seen  in 
Table  2,  which  are  sufficient  to  enable  us  to  conclude  that  it  is  a 
most  powerful  cathartic,  in  one  instance  producing  as  many  as 
twenty-five  actions  on  the  bowels,  although  the  same  amount  in 
other  cases  caused  but  moderate  effect.  Its  operation  was  fre- 
quently attended  with  nausea  and  griping,  which  shows  that 
scammony  in  its  simple  form  is  not  so  well  suited  for  administra- 
tion as  when  combined  with  other  purgatives.  Experience  has 
long  proved  this  to  be  the  case,  and  in  practice  the  fact  is  almost 
universally  acknowledged  and  acted  upon. 
In  November  and  December  of  1858  I  again  took  up  the 
subject,  and  made  a  rather  extensive  series  of  trials  with  the 
new  scammony,  comparing  its  action  with  that  of  a  specimen 
sent  specially  for  the  purpose  by  Messrs.  Horner  and  Son?  and 
called  best  virgin  scammony.  The  drugs  were  given  in  the  form 
of  pills,  and  in  ten-grain  doses  to  each  patient,  and  the  effects 
are  detailed  in  Table  3  (A  and  B).  Thirty  trials  were  made, 
the  majority  comparative,  but  a  certain  number  on  separate 
patients.  From  a  review  of  the  contents  of  the  table  it  will  be 
evident  that  the  new  scammony  is  at  least  equal  to  the  virgin 
scammony  as  a  purgative. 
Table  4  Exhibits  a  series  of  comparative  and  other  trials 
made  with  the  same  kinds  of  scammony  administered  in  a  fluid 
form,  or  rather  in  the  state  of  suspension,  as  mistura  scammonii, 
and  here  again  the  new  scammony  shows  itself  quite  equal  to 
the  virgin  variety. 
It  next  became  a  subject  of  interest  to  know  the  effect  of  the 
new  scammony  when  given  in  combination  with  other  purgatives, 
and  the  compound  colocynth  pill  of  the  present  London  Pharma- 
copoeia was  selected  as  the  form  to  be  employed.  Two  quan- 
tities were  made  up  with  the  same  aloes,  the  same  simple  extract 
of  colocynth,  &c,  the  only  difference  being  this — that  in  one  the 
new  scammony  was  introduced,  in  the  other  the  same  quantity 
of  Horner's  virgin  scammony,  and  the  pills  were  administered 
in  ten-grain  doses  to  each  patient.    Twenty-six  trials  were  made, 
