Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SCAMMONY

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 287 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

SCAMMONY , a plant, Convolvulus scammonia (Gr. oKap.wvia), native to the countries of the eastern See also:

part of the Mediterranean See also:basin; it grows in bushy See also:waste places, from See also:Syria in the See also:south to the See also:Crimea in the See also:north, its range extending westward to the See also:Greek islands, but not to See also:northern See also:Africa or See also:Italy. It is a See also:twining perennial, bearing See also:flowers like those of Convolvulus arvensis, and having irregularly arrow-shaped leaves and a thick fleshy See also:root. The dried juice, " virgin scammony," obtained by incision of the living root, has been used in See also:medicine as .scammonium,' but the variable quality of the See also:drug has led to the employment of scammoniae resina, which is obtained from the dried root by digestion with See also:alcohol. The active principle is the See also:glucoside scammonin or jalapin, C34Hi,6O,e. The dose of scammonium is 5 to lo grains, of scammony See also:resin 3 to 8 grains. Like certain other resins, scammony is inert until it has passed from the See also:stomach into the duodenum, where it meets the bile, a chemical reaction occurring between it and the taurocholate and glycocholate of See also:sodium, whereby it is converted into a powerful purgative. Its See also:action is essentially that of a hydragogue, and is exercised upon practically the entire length of the alimentary See also:canal. The drug is not a cholagogue, nor does it markedly affect the See also:muscular coat of the bowel, but it causes a See also:great increase of secretion from the intestinal glands. It acts in about four See also:hours. In large doses it is, of course, a violent gastrointestinal irritant. In consonance with the statement that scammony acts only after admixture with the bile, is the fact that hypodermic or intravenous injection of the drug produces no purgation, or indeed any other result. The drug frequently kills both the See also:round-See also:worm and the tape-worm, especially the former, and is therefore an anthelmintic.

It is not largely used, but is very effective in the treatment of severe See also:

constipation, especially in See also:children.

End of Article: SCAMMONY

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SCAMILLI IMPARES (" unequal steps," Fr. escabeaux i... 		[next]
SCAMP

Site © 2006 - Net Industries