VERATRUM  VIRIDE. 
63 
and  scammony,  sufficiently  testified,  and  the  additional  proof  of- 
fered by  the  specimens  of  jalap  herewith  amply  confirm  the  state- 
ment. 
In  order  to  ascertain  the  medicinal  value  of  the  supplies  of 
jalap  as  found  in  the  shops  of  pharmaceutists  I  procured  five 
specimens  of  powdered  jalap  at  different  establishments,  and 
found  the  result  in  per-centage  of  resin  as  follows  : — 
No.  1.  13  per  cent,  of  resin, 
u  2.  15       "  " 
"  3.  9J  "  " 
"  4.  16J     "  " 
The  commercial  value  of  jalap  imported  from  Tampico  is  much 
inferior  to  the  kind  imported  by  way  of  Vera  Cruz  ;  but  an  ave- 
rage of  seven  samples  of  each  kind  here  analyzed  show  that  the 
Tampico  is  richer  in  resin  than  the  Vera  Cruz,  the  average  in 
the  one  case  being  about  22  per  cent.,  and  in  the  other  17 J  per 
cent. 
I  have  made  an  experiment  with  the  purgative  effects  of  the 
two  varieties,  and  find  them  much  the  same.  The  resin  from 
Tampico  jalap  is  somewhat  darker  than  that  from  the  Vera  Cruz 
variety,  and  has  a  distinctive  peculiarity  of  smell,  but  I  have 
not  discovered  any  difference  in  chemical  character. —  Chemist 
and  Druggist,  Sept.  14,  1867,  from  Trans.  Brit.  Conf.  1867. 
VERATRUM  VIRIDE. 
By  Charles  Bullock. 
In  response  to  the  15th  query,  referred  to  me  at  the  last 
meeting  of  the  Association,  I  would  respectfully  report  that  the 
whole  subject  has  been  submitted  to  a  second  investigation,  the 
results  of  which  tend  to  confirm  my  former  experience  of  the 
existence  of  two  alkaloids  in  Veratrum  viride. 
I  have  nothing  farther  to  add  to  my  remarks  published  in  the 
American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  [vol.  xxxvii.,  page  325],  concern- 
ing the  characters  of  these  two  alkaloids,  except  to  mention  the 
peculiar  odor  of  the  alkaloids  when  recently  precipitated  and 
still  moist — an  odor  recalling  faintly  that  of  the  alkaline  hypo- 
