per cent., and an establishment for its manufacture was founded at Broussa in 1870. The dried root is also exported to England, and the resin prepared from it there. By purification the resin can be obtained almost white. The crude resin obtained from the root, being free from gum, does not present a milky appearance when rubbed with a wetted finger, and is thus easily distinguished from the natural product.

Scammony is used in medicine as a safe but energetic purgative, and is frequently prescribed in combination with calomel and colocynth. Its medicinal activity is due to the resin scammonin, which is also called jalapin from its occurrence in the root of the male jalap (Ipomaea orizabensis), and of Tampico jalap (I . simulans) (see Jalap). The export of scammony from Smyrna in 1881 was only 97 boxes, valued at .£544, the amount having decreased of late years owing to the increased export of the root from Syria. More than half of this quantity was taken by England, about one-fourth by France, and the remainder by Italy, America, and Austria.

The drug is obtained from the root by slicing off obliquely one or two inches from the crown and allowing the milky juice which exudes to drain into a small shell (generally that of a freshwater mussel), which is inserted in the root just below the base of the incision. To prevent the juice from becoming soiled, the earth is scraped away so as to leave exposed four or five inches of the root. The shells are collected in the evening and their contents emptied into a copper or leathern vessel,—the scrapings from the surface of the root, consisting of partially dried tears, being added. On the average, about one drachm is afforded by each incision; a plant four years old may give two drachms; in rare cases as much as twelve drachms has been obtained from a single large root. The collection usually takes place when the plant is in flower towards the end of summer. The product of different roots naturally varies in quality, and the peasants therefore, on arrival at their homes, render it uniform by mixing it with a knife. It is then spread out in the air to dry. Sometimes the gathering of several days is allowed to accumulate, and then moistened, kneaded, and made up into cakes. During the drying it appears to undergo a kind of fermentation, which gives the drug a slightly porous appearance and dark colour. Frequently it is adulterated by adding 40 per cent. of flour and earthy matter. It then assumes a paler colour and opaque appearance, and loses its brittleness. This adulterated article is known as “skilip,” and the pure article as “virgin” scammony. The latter is met with in the form of flattened pieces half an inch or more in thickness, with a blackish, resinous fracture, thin fragments being translucent. Externally it is often covered with a greyish powder. The odour, when a piece is freshly broken, is cheesy; when chewed, it leaves an acrid sensation in the throat. Scammony of good quality should yield to ether 80 to 90 per cent. of resin; the remainder consists of gum and mineral matter.