182 NAT. ORDER. — CONVOLVULACE^. 



two, or more rarely three flowers ; when properly cultivated, it is a 

 most splendid plant, and may be an object of interest as a medicine, 

 though as far as its medicinal powers have been developed, it is vastly 

 superseded by other plants of the same order — the Ipomsea jalapa and 

 Ipomsea quamoclit. 



Projiogation and Culture. It is propagated and cultivated in the 

 same manner as other tuberous plants, and requires similar soil and 

 cultivation to the dahlia. 



Medical Proj)erties and Uses. The root is resinous, and when 

 dried and pulverized, if inhaled, it produces irritation in the nostrils 

 and throat, and provokes sneezing and coughing. It is cathartic, 

 operating somewhat briskly upon the bowels ; it will yield its proper- 

 ties to water or alcohol, though the alcoholic extract may be consider- 

 ed the most powerful. It is most efficient in dropsical complaints. A 

 dose of this powder in ordinary cases is thirty grains. 



