MINOR VEGETABLE PRODUCTS AND THEIR SOURCES. 183 
The leaves are long, wiry, and grass-like, and, are borne in a dense tuft 
at the top of the stem, and hang down gracefully all around. The long 
flower stalks rise out of the center sometimes as high as 20 feet, bear- 
ing at the top a dense cylindrical flower spike. The resinous product 
has long been known among druggists as gum acroides, and is used 
by the natives as a medicine in cases of diarrhea. As seen in com- 
merce it is very brittle, usually in small pieces, and in a state of coarse 
powder. Its color is deep yellow, considerably resembling gamboge, but 
darker; the powder is greenish yellow. The plant is composed of a core 
of hard fibrous pith about half of its whole diameter, around which 
there is a layer of resin varying from half an inch to one inch or more 
in thickness, which forms the connection between the leaves and the 
core. Between these leaves, and also adhering to and covering them, 
is a quantity of resin which exudes in large lumps from the sides 
of the plant. An average-sized plant will produce forty pounds. 
Asafetida.—This resinous gum is procured from the juice of the Nar- 
thex asafetida, (Umbellifere,) a tall-growing perennial, native of Persia. 
The roots grow to a large size, and are allowed four to six years’ growth 
before they are considered in the best condition for yielding the drug. 
When ready for use the stem is severed close to the surtace of the 
ground, and incisions are made on the top of the stump from which the 
juice exudes and hardens by exposure, and is collected in its conérete 
state. In medicine it is used as a stimulant in hysteria and for other 
purposes. 
India copal, piney varnish, white dammar, or gumanine, a useful 
gum resin known in different localities by the preceding names, is pro- 
cured from Vateria Indica, ( Dipterocarpacea, ) a native tree of the Mala- 
bar coast. The resin is procured by cutting a notch in the trunk of the 
tree, from which the juice exudes and hardens by exposure to the air. 
It is largely used as a varnish for carriages, pictures, &e. It is also 
used by the Portuguese as an incense, and ornaments are fashioned 
from it under the name of amber. A vegetable butter is obtained from 
this fruit, which is of solid consistence, beautifully white, and requires 
a higher temperature to melt it than animal tallow. Candles manutac- 
tured from it burn with a clear light, and produce an agreeable fra- 
grance. It is prepared by cleaning the seeds, and then roasting and 
grinding them into amass. Water is added and the whole is boiled 
until the fatty matter rises to the surface, when it is removed. 
Jalap is furnished by the tubers of Lxogonium purga, ( Convolvulacee, ) 
a climbing plant, native of Mexico. The tubers are roundish, of various 
sizes, and dark-colored. They owe their purgative properties to their 
resinous ingredients, and worm-eaten tubers are more valuable than 
those that are sound, as the insects eat the farinaceous and woody por- 
tions of the tuber, and leave the resin. Indian jalap is obtained from 
the roots of Ipomea turpethum. The resin is more diluted than in the 
true jalap, and is destitute of any nauseous taste or smell. 
Wild jalap.—A resinous extract from the roots of Podophyllum pelia- 
tum, (Ranunculacece,) a native plant of active medicinal properties. 
Scammony.—The roots of Convoivulus scammonia when cut exude a 
' gummy resin or milky juice, which soon coneretes, and is known as 
scammony. The plant grows: abundantly in Greece, but the gum is 
Seldom to be found pure, being frequently mixed with chalk. Itis gener- 
ally imported from Aleppo. 
Ammoniacum is obtained from Dorema ammoniacum, (Umbellifere.) 
This plant is a native of Persia, and abounds in a milky juice, which 
exudes upon the slightest puncture being made, and dries upon the stem 
