132 
Commercial  Asafcetida. 
/ Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t      March,  1901. 
extent  in  the  treatment  of  certain  nervous  disorders,  and  especially 
in  attacks  of  hysteria  occurring  at  or  about  the  menopause. 
Of  late  years,  however,  it  has  come  into  prominence  on  account 
of  its  value  in  relieving  the  flatulence  that  usually  follows  as  a 
sequel  to  abdominal  operations.  The  opening  of  the  abdomen,  and 
the  necessary  disarrangement  of  the  various  organs,  seems  to  cause 
a  suspension  of  the  normal  peristaltic  action  of  the  intestines,  and 
the  tympanites,  caused  by  the  consequent  inability  to  expel  the 
accumulated  flatus,  is  the  cause  of  much  pain  and  discomfort  to  the 
patient.  So  far  as  known,  nothing  gives  as  prompt  or  as  much 
relief  as  the  administration  of  some  form  of  asafcetida,  preferably  an 
enema  or  a  suppository. 
It  follows,  naturally,  that  the  efficiency  of  the  various  preparations 
of  asafcetida  depends  largely  on  the  quality  of  the  raw  material  from 
which  they  are  made.  Having  occasion  to  handle  a  considerable 
amount  of  this  gum,  for  the  manufacture  of  the  various  preparations, 
the  writer  has  at  times  been  much  perplexed  by  the  difficulty  of 
procuring  a  satisfactory  supply  of  the  crude  drug.  Samples  of  the 
gum  have,  from  time  to  time,  been  compared  with  the  Pharmaco- 
pceial  requirements,  and  in  almost  every  instance  the  amount  of 
alcohol  soluble  material  has  fallen  decidedly  below  that  required. 
This  fact,  and  the  number  of  articles  that  have  been  published, 
within  a  year  or  more,  in  the  British  pharmaceutical  journals,  com- 
menting on  the  high  standard  for  asafcetida  that  has  been  estab- 
lished by  the  British  Pharmacopoeia,  and  the  poor  quality  of  the 
drug  as  found  in  the  British  market,  has  induced  the  writer  to 
make  a  more  systematic  study  of  the  available  supply  of  asafcetida. 
From  correspondence  with  several  drug  houses  it  was  learned 
that  the  price  of  asafcetida  varied  from  12  cents  to  $1.50  per  pound, 
according  to  quality.  It  was  also  learned  that  the  better  grades  of 
asafcetida  were  extremely  scarce  in  this  market,  and  that  at  the 
present  time  there  was  no  available  supply  of  choice  select  gum 
or  tears. 
The  ruling  prices  for  the  gum  on  hand  varied  from  30  cents  to 
55  cents  a  pound.  At  the  latter  price  a  small  quantity  of  loose 
tears  was  secured,  from  which  sample  No.  1  was  subsequently 
selected.  The  sample  as  obtained  from  the  jobber  would  not  have 
given  as  favorable  results,  as  it  was  freely  mixed  with  date  stones, 
transverse  sections  of  roots,  small  pieces  of  stone,  masses  of  hair, 
