278         NEW  PROCESS  FOR  PURE  RESIN  OF  SCAMMONY. 
and  are  detailed  in  Table  5,  and  the  results  appear  somewhat  in 
favor  of  the  new  scammony,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  its 
being  at  least  equal,  when  in  combination,  to  the  best  virgin 
scammony. 
In  Table  6,  the  results  of  some  comparative  trials  made  with 
Horner's  scammony  and  the  resin  obtained  from  the  same  by 
means  of  ether,  are  given,  and  it  will  be  there  observed  that  the 
scammony  made  use  of  in  many  of  my  observations  was  one 
whose  quality  cannot  be  doubted,  seeing  that  it  yielded  86  per 
cent,  of  resin  soluble  in  ether,  whereas  the  London  and  Edin- 
burgh Colleges  only  demand  that  78  and  80  per  cent,  of  resin 
should  be  present.  No  great  difference  could  be  discovered  be- 
tween the  two  drugs,  but  this  fact  I  do  not  think  difficult  to  ex- 
plain, as  only  a  difference  of  14  per  cent,  of  resin  existed,  and, 
unless  the  trials  were  very  numerous,  this  would  be  unable  to  be 
detected.  I  think  it  would  be  more  easy  to  do  so  when  the  scam- 
mony is  given  in  combination,  than  when  administered  alone. 
From  these  numerous  observations,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
in  number,  together  with  many  others  which  have  not  been  tabu- 
lated, I  am  quite  convinced  that  the  scammony  prepared  by  the 
new  process  from  the  untapped  root  is  quite  equal,  as  a  remedy, 
to  the  very  best  virgin  scammony  met  with  in  commerce, 
and  equal,  in  fact,  to  the  resin  which  is  extracted  from  com- 
mercial scammony  by  means  of  ether  ;  and  it  possesses  this 
most  important  advantage  over  the  scammony  of  commerce, 
namely,  of  being  entirely  free  from  the  frauds  which  are  almost 
constantly  practised  upon  it  in  the  country  where  the  plant 
grows,  and  in  which  it  has  hitherto  been  collected,  and,  there- 
fore, being  perfectly  uniform  in  its  physical  characters,  compo- 
sition, and  therapeutic  action.  There  can,  therefore,  be  no 
objection,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  manifest  advantage,  in  em- 
ploying it  in  the  place  of  the  scammony  commonly  met  with. — 
London  Pharm.  Journal,  March,  1859. 
