144 
TAMPICO  JALAP. 
leaves  microscopic  crystals,  which  I  suppose  to  be  Anderson's 
Rottlerine  ;  this  sort  of  kamala  seems  to  be  well  suited  to  furnish 
that  interesting  principle. 
{Note  by  Mr.  Daniel  HanburyJ]  In  accordance  with  a  sug- 
gestion of  my  friend  Dr.  Fluckiger  I  have  set  on  foot  some 
inquiries  as  to  the  origin  of  the  new  kamala  described  in  the 
foregoing  paper. 
Dr.  Fluckiger  has  so  carefully  described  the  characters  of  the 
drug  that  there  is  but  little  which  I  can  add.  I  may,  however, 
point  out  that  the  new  kamala  has  a  distinct  odor,  which  is 
.  exactly  that  which  is  perceptible  when  a  tincture  of  the  old  sort 
is  poured  into  water.  Apart  from  its  dissimilar  structure  when 
seen  under  the  microscope,  the  new  kamala  differs  most  obviously 
from  the  old  in  its  darker  color,  larger  grains  and  freedom 
from  earthy  impurities. — London  Pharm.  Jour.,  Dec.  1867. 
TAMPICO  JALAP. 
By  Charles  Umney,  F.C.S. 
The  attention  of  the  pharmaceutist  has  recently  been  direct- 
ed, in  the  various  journals  of  pharmacy  in  this  country,  to  a 
variety  of  jalap,  rather  abundant  at  the  present  time  in  the 
drug  market,  known  as  Tampico  jalap  ;  comparison  has  aiso 
been  made  between  it  and  the  officinal  jalap  {Exogonium  purga) 
known  commercially  as  Vera  Cruz. 
In  a  paper  read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Conference  this  year 
(Pharm.  Journ.,  October,  1867),  Mr.  A.  Southall  gave  the  re- 
sult of  analysis  of  several  samples  of  jalap  of  both  varieties,  the 
product  of  resin  amounting,  in  some  cases,  to  33  per  cent. 
Messrs.  T.  and  H.  Smith  remark  (Pharm.  Jour.,  November, 
1867),  that  they  have  never  succeeded  in  obtaining  more  than  15 
per  cent,  of  pure  resin  from  any  kind  of  jalap,  neither  have 
they  ever  seen  a  greater  yield  recorded. 
They  account  for  the  discrepancy  between  their  statements  and 
that  of  Mr.  Southall,  by  saying,  that  the  resin  as  obtained  by 
him  could  not  have  been  in  a  state  of  purity  and  dryness.  So 
far  they  are  correct,  but  they  have  underrated  the  maximum 
yield  of  resin  of  jalap. 
