274 
RESIN  JALAPiE,  P.  B. 
the  other  sound,  as  far  as  I  could  judge  of  the  same  quality  in 
other  respects — samples  of  them  being  upon  the  table — the 
worm-eaten  gave  me  one  ounce  of  resin  from  eight  ounces,  or 
12-5  per  cent.,  and  afterwards,  by  boiling  with  water,  one 
ounce  of  soft  aqueous  extract ;  the  sound  jalap  yielded  from  the 
same  quantity  one  ounce  and  a  half  of  resin,  nearly  19  per 
cent.,  and  two  ounces,  or  25  per  cent.,  of  the  aqueous  product. 
Thus,  though  a  wholesale  manufacturer  might  use  the  worm- 
eaten  for  the  preparation  of  resin,  seeing  that  it  would  not  com- 
mand a  ready  sale  as  jalap-root  for  tincture,  I  should  myself 
prefer  the  sound  root.  The  next  point  of  inquiry  which  suggested 
itself  to  me  was  one  arising  from  the  fact  that  the  good  Vera 
Cruz  jalap  being  very  dear,  and  another  kind,  described  as  Tam- 
pico  jalap,  being  offered  at  a  less  price,  the  difference  being  one 
shilling  and  sixpence  per  pound,  whether  it  would  yield  as  good 
a  product  as  the  kind  known  as  Vera  Cruz  jalap.  It  may  be 
perhaps  worth  while  to  mention  that  Tampico  is  a  port  on  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  north  of  Vera  Cruz,  whence  the  jalap  is  ex- 
ported, and  from  which  circumstance  it  probably  takes  its  name. 
Operating  upon  the  same  quantity  of  this  Tampico  jalap,  some 
of  which  is  upon  the  table,  I  obtained  exactly  the  same  quantity 
of  resin  as  I  had  done  from  the  sound  Vera  Cruz,  viz.,  19  per 
cent.,  but  only  10  per  cent,  of  the  aqueous  extract.  The  next 
question  which  suggested  itself  was  whether  this  and  similar 
resins  could  be  (following  the  Pharmacopoeia  directions)  as  well 
prepared  with  methylated  as  pure  spirit  ?  Judging  from  two 
samples  on  the  table,  I  should  say  not.  Although  subjected  to 
distillation,  subsequent  washing  with  hot  water,  and  evaporation 
in  an  open  vessel,  these  resins  still  most  tenaciously  retain  the 
unpleasant  methylic  odor,  but  which  is  almost  got  rid  of  by  sub- 
sequent digestion  with  a  small  quantity  of  pure  spirit  and  animal 
charcoal,  and  repeated  washings  with  hot  distilled  water. 
There  is  yet  another  circumstance,  I  think,  worthy  of  being 
mentioned  in  reference  to  a  test  for  jalap  resin.  In  the  "  Phar- 
maceutical Journal,"  vol.  iv.,  1st  series,  p.  326,  writing  upon 
jalap,  Dr.  G.  Kayser  says :  "  The  relation  of  jalap  resin  to 
concentrated  sulphuric  acid  furnishes  us  with  the  means  of 
testing  these  resins.  We  have  only  to  moisten  a  little  of  the 
powdered  resin  in  question  with  a  few  drops  of  concentrated 
