ON  THE  PURGATIVE  CONVOLVULACEJE. 
209 
The  author  disapproves  of  the  English  plan  of  extracting 
the  resin  from  the  dried  roots  of  the  scammony  plant,  because 
it  is  not  accompanied  by  gum  and  odor,  as  is  the  natural  exuda- 
tion ;  but  this  remark  certainly  will  not  apply  to  the  resin  of 
scammony  made  from  scammony  itself.  M.  Marais  thinks  that, 
in  a  drug  where  70  to  75  per  cent,  is  active  matter,  there  is 
little  need  to  extract  the  resin ;  and  that  a  long  experience 
proves  tha,t  good  scammony  is  sufficiently  well  marked  to  be  recog- 
nized, even  if  there  were  no  other  characters  than  the  five  that 
M.  Dubail  has  designated.  A  good  scammony  should  be  grey, 
light,  friable,  lactescent  and  odorant.  [The  experience  in  this 
country  goes  to  prove  that  commercial  scammony  cannot  be 
relied  upon,  and  hence  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  directs  the  resin 
itself  in  compound  extract  of  colocynth.] 
THE  ROOT  OF  TURBITH. 
The  observations  on  turbith  are  more  substantial  than  those 
on  scammony,  but  the  subject  is  of  less  importance.  We  think, 
with  M.  Andouard,  that  this  root  is  a  good  purgative,  that  it 
offers  the  advantage  of  being  easily  managed,  and,  further,  that 
it  is  very  abundant,  as,  according  to  M.  Lepine,  it  grows  wild  in 
the  forests  near  Pondichery ;  but,  notwithstanding  its  quali- 
ties and  abundance,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  the  indifference  of 
physicians  to  its  use  will  not  be  changed.  M.  Andouard  has  not 
hesitated  to  experiment  on  a  number  of  samples,  of  which  the 
mean  value  of  the  resin  was  10  per  cent.  This  richness  in 
active  matter  is  sufficient  to  class  turbith,  in  therapeutic  value, 
with  jalap  at  16  per  cent.,  and  scammony  at  75  per  cent,  of 
resin.  The  following  is  his  analysis  of  turbith  root,  which  is  the 
most  complete  extant :  Water,  3.60 ;  Resin,  10.20 ;  Gum  and 
Albumen,  7.20;  Starch,  12.35;  Sugar,  0.51;  Lignin,  52.70; 
Mineral  Salts,  9.80 ;  Loss,  3.64. 
The  Mechoecan  and  the  roots  of  indigenous  bind-weeds  are 
only  mentioned  to  complete  the  collection  of  purgative  con- 
volvulacea. 
CONCLUSIONS. 
The  thesis  of  M.  Andouard  is  very  substantial,  and  of  great 
interest  for  Pharmacy.    The  most  important  point  of  interest  is 
11 
