NAT. ORDER. — CONVOLVULACELE. 45 



greai abundance, at a heidit of more than six thousand feet above 

 the ocean. It without doubt coidd be successfully cultivated, and be 

 made a source of profit in the southern sections of the United States, 

 ■wore it fostered in those warm climates so congenial to the soil. It 

 accjuires groat vigor and luxm-ianco, extending its stalks from fii'toen 

 to eighteen feet in length ; the roots, also, both in appearance and 

 medicinal powers, essentially differ from those cultivated in colder 

 climes. 



Houston and Miller seem to be the only authors who knew the 

 plant which produces the true Jalap of the shops ; as the plant gen- 

 erally described, cultivated, and known as such, is a very distinct 

 species, and appears to be only a purple flowered variety. The true 

 plant is found principally in the neighborhood of Jalapa; it al)ounds 

 also, on tlie eastern slope of the Cordillera of Anahuac ; in the same 

 latitude is produced the JliniUa and SursapariUa. From 200,000 to 

 300,000 pounds are annually exported from Vera Cruz. Although 

 the root forms a well known and valuable cathartic, which is, per- 

 haps, more generally employed than any other vegetable origin, it 

 was not until lately that the genus to which it belongs was accu- 

 rately ascertained. In its wild state, the plant delights in a dry, 

 sandy soil. The dry root of Jalap is imported in thin, transverse 

 slices, and in round masses. It is solid, hard, and heavy, of a dark 

 grey color. It has a sickly smell, and a sweetish, subacid, nauseous 

 taste. Powdered, it is of a pale yellow-brown color. Jalap when 

 dear, is often adulterated with scammony, gamboge, briony root, etc. 

 Jalap is an active purgative, wliich can always be relied upon, and 

 would be administered much more ofteii •\ere it not for the disagreea- 

 ble effects produced by it, as nausea and griping. It is, notwithstand- 

 ing, a very safe medicine. 



Tpiinan Tiirp'jthain. Turpethum Ipomoea. The stem of this 

 species is a little angular, glabrous, downy, upright ; leaves cordate?- 



