Jalap  and  Jalap  Resin. 
( Am.  .Tom-.  Pharrn. 
i       March,  1890. 
ther  quantity  of  some  hundreds  of  pounds,  from  the  neighborhood 
of  Xalapa  and  Perote,  was  on  its  way. 
It  may  therefore  be  probably  assumed  that  the  dealer  in  Mexico 
has  acquired  sufficient  chemical  knowledge  to  wash  the  jalap  with 
alcohol.  If  it  were  previously  charred  by  suitable  drying  at  a  fire 
it  would  not  undergo  any  remarkable  change  through  a  short 
immersion  in  alcohol ;  and  it  may  easily  be  demonstrated  that  if  the 
root  is  previously  bruised  this  is  never  the  case. 
The  jalap  plant  first  reached  Europe  in  1830,  through  Schiede, 
and  was  successfully  cultivated  in  Cassel,  Munich  .and  other  places  ; 
since  that  time  many  botanical  gardens  have  possessed  the  plant. 
In  July,  1834,  Apotheker  Widnmann,  of  Munich,  examined  a  jalap 
tuber  grown  in  that  city,  which  was  so  juicy  that  there  remained 
after  drying  only  10*9  per  cent.  This  dried  substance  gave  up  to 
absolute  alcohol  a  quantity  of  resin  equal  to  2-479  per  cent.,  calcu- 
lated on  the  fresh  root,  or  22-74  per  cent,  of  the  dried  material.  So 
far  as  I  know  a  jalap  richer  in  resin  was  never  met  with.  It  is 
probable  that  the  observer  may  be  credited  that  he  actually  had  to 
do  with  the  jalap  resin  (convolvulin),  the  more  so  as  he  adds  that  it 
was  pale  yellow,  easily  friable  and  insoluble  in  ether.1  The  dried 
root  is  described  by  Widnmann  as  being  remarkably  pale;  no 
wonder  therefore  that  the  resin  should  be  only  yellowish  and  not 
brown. 
The  work  of  the  Munich  pharmacist  moreover  finds  confirmation 
in  an  investigation  carried  out  at  Bonn  by  Clamor  Marquart,  of  a 
jalap  root,  originating  from  the  same  consignment,  by  Schiede,  as 
Widnmann's,  and  which  was  grown  at  Cassel  by  Wild.  The  root, 
when  dried,  yielded  12  per  cent,  of  a  yellow  resin,  soluble  in  caustic 
potash  solution  and  fuming  nitric  acid,  but  not  in  ether,  which  only 
took  up  a  minute  quantity. 
There  is  no  doubt,  therefore,  that  roots  from  jalap  plants  grown 
in  Germany  in  the  open  air  may  be  remarkably  rich  in  resin ;  that 
in  Munich  over  20  per  cent,  of  resin  was  produced,  and  in  Cassel 
only  half  as  much  does  not  affect  the  matter.  It  is  only  now  neces- 
sary to  bring  these  experiments  again  prominently  into  the  light  in 
order  that  agriculturists  may  be  provoked  to  the  cultivation  of  the 
jalap  plant,  which  probably  would  bring  greater  profit  than  many 
Buchner's  Repertoriam .fur  Pharniacie,  vol.  liv  (1835),  p.  222. 
