244 FLORA HISTORICA. 



called '' rather the Marvel of the World than of 

 Peru alone." 



Jacobus Antonius Cortusus, a professor of bo- 

 tany at Padua, who died in the year 1593, first 

 discovered the cathartic qualities of the root of this 

 plant ; and it was shortly afterwards supposed to 

 be the true Gelapo, or Jalap of the shops, and the 

 plant was accordingly named Mirahilis Jalapa. 

 Dr. James observes, in his History of Drugs, 1745, 

 that the Jalap *^ was a root unknown to the an- 

 cients, and also in Europe till the discovery of 

 America." He adds, *' It usually comes from the 

 Spanish West Indies in transverse slices, about an 

 inch thick, being rugged, and of a dark brown 

 colour on the outside, and whitish within, full of 

 black shining resin." This has been believed, by 

 most authors, to be the root of a Convolvulus, Mr. 

 Ray noticing it as Convolvulus Americanus, Jala- 

 piujn Dictus ; but, if w^e may rely on the account 

 which Father Plumier gives of it, it is a species of 

 Mirahilis Peruviana^ or Marvel of Peru. 



Boerhaave, Dale, and most other medical wri- 

 ters of that day, were of opinion that the Jalap 

 root was the same as the Marvel of Peru ; and the 

 same idea prevailed in the French School of Medi- 

 cine, as we find Tournefort, Pomet, Lemery, and 

 others have, from the authority of Plumier, stated 



