Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
November,  1900.  / 
Some  Notes  on  Jalap. 
531 
Two  lots  of  jalap  were  taken,  which  for  convenience  we  will  call  A 
and  B  ;  the  tubers  of  A  were  broken  open,  and  those  light  in  color 
and  starchy  were  separated  from  those  dark  in  color  and  resinous. 
The  tubers  of  B  were  also  broken  open,  but  not  separated. 
The  specific  gravities  of  pieces  of  each  lot 
were  found  to  be  as 
follows : 
A. 
B. 
Starchy. 
Resinous. 
1-131 
1-346 
1-274 
ri86 
I-358 
1*282 
I '102 
1-348 
1  267 
I-I3I 
1 '345 
1*281 
I-298 
I-37I 
1-284 
fi57 
1-380 
1-330* 
1*264 
1-352 
1*363 
1*176 
1-365 
7)  9-081 
1-276 
1*339 
1-297  average. 
1-198 
i'352 
1-207 
1*409 
1*210 
11)14-965 
12)14-336 
1-360  average. 
1-194  average. 
The  tubers  should  be  broken  open  before  specific  gravity  is  taken, 
for  in  some  very  large  spaces  were  found. 
The  assay  for  resin,  according  to  the  method  of  the  Pharma- 
copoeia, resulted  as  follows : 
A.  B. 
Starchy.  Resinous. 
176  p.c.  resin.  6*62  p.c.  resin.  7*64  p.c.  resin. 
Crystals  of  calcium  oxalate  were  estimated  both  in  whole  sections 
of  the  drug  and  in  the  powder.  In  the  whole  sections,  crystals  in 
the  cortical  layer  only  were  counted,  for  most  sections  contained 
but  few  crystals  scattered  through  the  portion  enclosed  by  endo- 
dermis. 
The  crystals  are  generally  in  rosette-shaped  masses ;  occasionally, 
however,  large  cubical  ones  are  seen.   There  are  also  present  a  very 
