The Board then balloted for members of the Publishing Committee, when the following were found to be elected.
MESSRS. JNO. H. CURRIE,
THOS. B. MERRICK,
C. B. GUTHRIE,
EUGENE DUPUY,
with Ex Officio, GEO. D. COGGESHALL,
President of the College.
ON TWO VARIETIES OF FALSE JALAP. BY JOHN H. CURRIE.
Two different roots have for some time back been brought to the New York market, for the purpose of adulterating or counterfeiting the various preparations of Jalap. They differ materially from the Mechoacan and other varieties of false Jalap which formerly existed in our markets, as described by Wood and Bache in the United States Dispensatory, while some of the pieces bear no slight resemblance to the true root. The specimens I have been able to procure are so imperfect, and so altered by the process of drying, that the botanists I have consulted are unable to give any information even as to the order to which they belong. I have not been able either to trace their commercial history, nor do I know how, under the present able administration of the law for the inspection of drugs, they have obtained admission to our port. The article or articles, since {5} there are at least two of them, come done up in bales like those of the true Jalap, and are probably brought from the same port, Vera Cruz.
No. 1 appears to be the rhizome or underground stem of an exogenous perennial herb, throwing up at one end each year one or more shoots, which after flowering die down to the ground. It comes in pieces varying in length from two to five inches, and in thickness from the third of an inch to three inches. In some of the pieces the root has apparently been split or cut lengthwise; in others, particularly in the large pieces, it has been sliced transversely like Colombo root. The pieces are somewhat twisted or contorted, corrugated longitudinally and externally, varying in color from a yellowish to a dark brown. The transverse sections appear as if the rhizome may have been broken in pieces at nodes from two to four inches distant from each other, and at which the stem was enlarged. Or the same appearance may have been caused by the rhizome having been cut into sections of various length; and the resinous juice exuding on the cut surfaces, has hindered them from contracting to the same extent as the intervening part of the root. On the cut or broken surfaces are seen concentric circles of woody fibres, the intervening parenchyma being contracted and depressed. The fresh broken surfaces of these pieces exhibit in a marked manner the concentric layers of woody fibres. The pieces that are cut longitudinally, on the other hand, are heavier than those just described, though their specific gravity is still not near so great as that of genuine Jalap. Their fracture is more uniform, of a greyish brown color, and highly resinous.
This variety of false Jalap, when exhausted with alcohol, the tincture thus obtained evaporated, and the residuum washed with water, yielded from 91⁄2 to 151⁄2 per cent. of resin, the average of ten experiments being 13 per cent. Its appearance was strikingly like that of Jalap resin. It had a slightly sweetish mucilaginous taste, leaving a little acridity, and the odor was faintly jalapine. It resembled Jalap resin in being slowly soluble in concentrated sulphuric acid, but unlike Jalap resin it was wholly soluble in ether. In a dose of ten grains it proved feebly purgative, causing two or three moderate liquid stools. Its operation was unattended with griping or other unpleasant effect, except a slight feeling of nausea felt about half an hour after the extract had been swallowed, and continuing for some time.
This variety of false Jalap is probably used, when ground, for the purpose of mixing with and adulterating the powder of true Jalap, or is sold {6} for it, or for the purpose of obtaining from it its resin or extract, which is sold as genuine resin or extract of Jalap. The powder strikingly resembles that of true Jalap, has a faint odor of Jalap, but is destitute, to a great extent, of its flavor. The dust, too, arising from it, is much less irritating to the air passages.
The second variety is a tuber possibly of an orchidate plant, a good deal resembling in shape, color and size, a butternut, (Juglans cinerea.) Externally it is black or nearly so, in some places shining as if varnished by some resinous exudation, but generally dull, marked by deep longitudinal cuts extending almost to the centre of the tubers; internally it is yellow or yellowish white, having a somewhat horny fracture, and marked in its transverse sections with dots as if from sparse, delicate fibres. When first imported the root is comparatively soft, but becomes dry and brittle by keeping. Its odor resembles that of Jalap, and its taste is nauseous, sweetish, and mucilaginous.
This root contains no resin whatever. Treated with boiling water it yields a large amount (75 per cent.) of extract. This is soluble, to a great extent, likewise in alcohol. With iodine no blue color is produced.