# Scammony (Convolvulus scammonia)

**Scammonium*; *diagrydium**

**Known today as.** The dried root resin of *Convolvulus scammonia*.

Kind: Resin & Wood  
Poisoning: Gastrointestinal irritants (https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/poisons/gastrointestinal)  
Toxic: yes

> **Caution.** A violent purge.

## What was it used for?

One of the most violent purges of the old pharmacy, in the golden and cochia pills; see [Golden pills](https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/golden-pills).

## What does modern science say?

A drastic cathartic, long abandoned.

## Pharmacognosy and toxicology

- **jalapin**: a glycoside resin

**Mechanism.** The resin glycosides irritate the gut wall and draw water into it.

**Dose.** Drastic in gram doses.

**Standing.** No medicinal use.

## What did the older authorities say?

**Pliny.** Scammony “is productive of derangement of the stomach. It carries off bile, and acts strongly as a purgative upon the bowels; unless, indeed, aloes are added, in the proportion of two drachmae of aloes to two oboli of scammony”: the drug is the juice of a plant branchy from the root with unctuous white triangular leaves and a nauseous root, dug about at the rising of the Dog-star so the juice collects, then dried in the sun and divided into tablets; at Thasos it was planted among vines to make a wine called phthorium, “productive of abortion”; some mixed it with black hellebore, “but salt is looked upon as more safe.”

## Sources

- Dioscorides, *De materia medica*.
- Pliny the Elder, *Natural History* 26.38, 14.19, 25.22, trans. J. Bostock & H. T. Riley (1855), Perseus Digital Library.
- Pomet, P. (1694). *Histoire générale des drogues*.

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*Scammony.* In *Materia Medica*, edited by B. C. P. Statema. Version 1, revised 2026-10-01. The Thinking Press. https://thethinkingpress.org/materia-medica/scammony

Historical description, not medical advice.