Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
June,  1876.  J 
Extract  of  Jalap. 
26s 
REMARKS  ON  EXTRACT  OF  JALAP. 
BY  JOHN    M.  MAISCH. 
The  preceding  valuable  and  practical  paper,  by  Mr.  Klie,  suggests 
some  remarks  on  the  necessity  of  modifying  the  officinal  process  on 
the  occasion  of  the  next  revision  of  the  "  Pharmacopoeia." 
Pereira,  in  commenting  upon  the  process  of  the  former  "  London 
Pharmacopoeia,"  after  which  that  of  the  "  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  "  was 
modeled,  states  :  "  It  was,  formerly,  and,  indeed,  is  now,  by  many 
persons,  supposed  that  the  combination  of  these  ingredients  (/.  f.,  the 
resin  and  gummy  extractive,)  was  necessary  for  the  full  cathartic 
effect  of  jalap.  It  is,  however,  well  known  that  the  watery  extract  is 
inert  as  a  purgative,  though  it  is  said  to  be  diuretic  ;  the  only  advan- 
tage, therefore,  that  can  attend  the  mixture  of  the  two  extracts  (the 
watery  and  the  alcoholic)  is  that  the  resin  is  intimately  divided,  and 
thereby  prevented  from  causing  violent  irritation  and  griping  in  any 
one  part  of  the  intestinal  tube.  But  it  is  obvious  that  the  same  advan- 
tage can  be  obtained  by  mixing  the  resin  with  some  mild  agent  (as 
almonds,  sugar  or  saline  matter)." 
In  1864,  Mr.  Alfred  B.  Taylor  reported  to  the  American  Pharma- 
ceutical Association  the  result  of  some  experiments  (see  "  Am.  Jour. 
Phar.,"  1865,  p.  219),  according  to  which  the  aqueous  extract,  ob- 
tained from  jalap,  previously  exhausted  by  alcohol,  is  without  any 
laxative  or  diuretic  effect. 
Most  of  the  Pharmacopoeias  of  continental  Europe  have  long  since 
(some  for  more  than  fifty  years)  discarded  the  extract  and  introduced 
in  its  place  the  resin  of  jalap.  The  few  Pharmacopoeias  in  which  an 
extract  of  jalap  is  still  officinal,  prepare  it  (we  believe  with  the  sole 
exception  of  the  U.  S.  and  British  Pharmacopoeias)  similar  to  the 
French  codex,  by  exhausting  the  powdered  root  with  alcohol,  and 
evaporating  the  tincture.  Thus  prepared,  the  extract  of  jalap  is  nearly 
identical  with  the  resin,  or  rather  it  consists  of  resin  with  a  compara- 
tively small  quantity  of  matter  soluble  in  water,  amounting,  in  all,  to 
perhaps  ten  per  cent,  of  its  weight.  In  this  portion  will  be  found, 
besides  some  sugar,  a  body  having  some  resemblance  to  resin,  but 
differing  from  this  class  of  bodies  by  being  soluble  in  water.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  to  this  principle  must  be  ascribed  the  mild  purgative  and 
diuretic  properties,  which,  according  to  some  old  works  on  Materia 
Medica,  are  ascribed  to  the  aqueous  extract. 
