Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Sept.,  1888. 
Notes  on  Senna. 
459 
tory  explanation  of  the  meaning  of  the  word  further  than  that  it  is 
appKed  to  all  gums  of  a  reddish  tint.  It  is  therefore  probably  a  word 
imported  into  India,  and  as  the  name  is  principally  applied  to  Barbary 
and  Egyptian  gums  it  may  be  a  corruption  of  the  Arabic  word  hamrd, 
red,  and  this  thought  is  supported  by  a  statement  I  have  recently  seen 
that  ^^amrad"  is  a  corruption  of  '^amhara/^^  a  name  applied  to  a  gum 
derived  from  an  acacia. 
Gums  are  sent  to  Bombay  from  all  parts  of  India,  but  the  best 
come  from  Amravti.  Other  centres  are  Nagpur,  Jubbnepur  and 
Cawnpur,  and  a  good  deal  is  collected  on  the  ghats  of  the  Bombay 
presidency.  On  arrival  in  Bombay  they  are  sorted  by  Cooly  women 
and  children.  Anogeissus  gum,  possessing  well-marked  physical 
characters,  is  easily  separated,  and  is  sent  to  the  London  market 
almost  free  from  admixture,  but  the  dark  colored  or  amrad  gums  are 
generally  mixtures  of  various  gums,  babool  gum  predominating. 
During  the  last  financial  year  20,895  cwts.  of  gum  arabic  of  Indian 
production  were  exported  from  Bombay,  valued  at  117,93,934.^ — 
Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.  July  7,  1888. 
NOTES  ON  SENNA.^ 
By  Charles  Heisch,  F.I.C 
Having  had  some  samples  of  powdered  senna  brought  to  me  by  one 
of  my  inspectors,  I  was  somewhat  puzzled  what  to  do  with  them. 
Not  only  was  it  possible  that  other  leaves  might  be  powdered  with 
the  senna,  but  that  exhausted  leaves  might  be  also  added.  Many 
varieties  of  cassia  appear  to  be  sometimes  found  mixed  with  senna, 
and  so  long  as  you  have  the  leaves  you  can  mostly  detect  them,  but 
when  powdered  you  lose  the  characteristic  appearances. 
The  principal  adulterants  of  which  I  can  find  any  account  are 
cynanchum  argel  and  coriaria  myrtifolia,  the  latter  being  a  poisonous 
plant,  used  by  dyers  and  tanners,  sometimes  called  tanners'  sumac. 
How  argel  is  to  be  detected  in  powdered  senna,  I  cannot  at  present 
say  ;  I  have  not  yet  got  a  specimen.  Fortunately  the  worst  adulterant 
^  British  and  Colonial  Druggist,  May,  19,  p.  536. 
^  "  Annual  Statement  of  the  Trade  and  Navigation  of  the  Port  of  Bombay," 
1886  and  1887. 
^Read  at  Meeting  of  Public  Analysts,  June,  1888.  Reprinted  from  The 
Analyst,  August. 
