SELECTED ARTICLES. 
enough, the very kind of adulteration practised seems to have 
undergone little change. In some parts of the Continent it 
has no great reputation, and is not much in use. In Britain, 
however, its consumption is very great; which may be in- 
ferred from its forming a large part of the compound colo- 
cynth mass, one of our most familiar laxative pills. No 
substance is so seldom to be met with genuine as scammony. 
The utmost efforts of the druggist to obtain it pure are often 
unsuccessful for a long period of time; and I have met re- 
peatedly with well informed members of the trade; who had 
never seen it in that state, and did not know what it was 
when it was presented to them. I have made many careful 
observations on this subject, which will soon be made public. 
At present a few facts will suffice. Pure scammony, which 
possesses a pretty clear resinous fracture and lustre, is com- 
posed, according to repeated analyses I have executed, of 
resin, gum, a few grains of sandy matter, and a little moisture. 
The gum amounts to eight per cent., and the resin, its active 
principle, varies from seventy-seven to eighty-three per cent., 
according to the age and consequent dryness of the specimen. 
Such scammony has for some years cost in the wholesale 
market about thirty-two shillings a pound; but it is rarely to 
be met with. The principal part of the scammony in the 
shops costs only from fourteen to eighteen shillings a pound; 
which is alone evidence enough that it is a spurious article. 
Three adulterations have come under my notice, — with chalk, 
with some amylaceous matter, and with both conjoined. The 
first variety has very much the appearance of our gray lime- 
stones. I may mention the composition of one merely out of 
a great number I have analysed. It contained 31.5 per cent, 
of carbonate of lime, more sandy impurities than usual, and 
only 43.5 per cent, of its active principle, the resin. The 
next variety, which may be called amylaceous scammony, 
presents a variable proportion of fecula, and along with this a 
less proportion of a principle corresponding in properties 
with lignin. Of several specimens of this kind I have exa- 
