CONVOLVL'LUS. 137 



The Scammony of the shops is obtained from tlic 

 Convolvulus Scammonia of the Levant, but our 

 great Bindweed is thought to possess the same me- 

 dical properties. Dr. Witherington remarks that 

 *' it is unnecessary to import Scammony from 

 Aleppo, when a medicine with the very same pro- 

 perties grows spontaneously in many of our hedges." 



This genus of plants also affords the inhabitants 

 of tropical climates a valuable species of food, as it 

 is the Convolvulus Batatas which produces the tu- 

 berous roots called Batatas or Spanish potatoes. 



