IPOMCEA 



PUROA 



JALAP 



hitherto attained under the names of the products concerned, such as Corcitoru* 

 (Jute), Camellia (Tea), etc. But in addition, the following special articles deal 

 with insect economic products : 



Bees', Bees'-wax, Dammar and Honey (see pp. 123-9). 



Coccus Cacti, Cochineal (pp. 347-9). 



Silk (pp. 992-1013). 



Tachardia Lacca (pp. 1053-6). 



Besides these, however, there are a few other insects that have attracted 

 attention. Perhaps the most important is the LOCUST. This often proves so 

 destructive that strenuous efforts become necessary to restrain it. In order 

 to aid in their identification, Maxwell- Lefroy has recently published an in- 

 teresting account of the life-histories, with full-page illustrations, of the two 

 locusts known to India, viz. the Bombay Locust and the North- West Locust. [The 

 following papers have appeared in The Agricultural Ledger : Gunther and Cotes, 

 Dried Locusts as food for Cage and Game Birds, 1893, No. 2 ; The Automatic 

 Locust Catcher, 1895, No. 15 ; Stewart Stockman, A Plague of Grasshoppers in 

 the C. Frov., 1903, No. 3, 56-85 ; Maxwell-Lefroy, Mem. Dept. Agri. Ind., 1906, i.. 

 No. 1 ; 1907, i., 125.] Sly (Agri. Journ. Ind., ii., pt. ii., 208) gives a brief 

 forecast of a report shortly to appear on the results attained in India with the 

 locust parasitic fungus. 



The wing-cases of the beetle Bnfn'entis vittata are largely employed 

 for ornamental purposes in India, and are especially worked up in articles of 

 dress produced in Madras and Hyderabad, or are used in khas-khas fans, etc. 

 [Cf. Mukharji, Art Manuf. Ind., 309, 313, 380; Watt, Ind. Art at Delhi, 1903, 

 161, 198, 408.] 



D.E.P., IPOMCEA, Linn. ; Fl Br. Ind., iv., 196-215 ; Prain, Beng. Plants, 



iv., 476-96. 1903, ii., 731-7; Cooke, FL Pres. Bomb., 1905, ii., 241-52; CON- 

 VOLVULACE^E. A genus of herbs, rarely shrubs, twining, prostrate, or 

 less often sub-erect. 



WUd Pot-herb. I. aquatlca, Forsh. ; Rec. Hot. Surv. Ind., ii., 121, 185, 243 ; iii., 81. The kalmi- 



sdk, ndri, ganthian, ndlichi baj'i, sarkarei valli, etc. An aquatic species common 

 throughout India but especially abundant on the surface of tanks in Bengal. 

 The young shoots, leaves and roots are universally eaten as a vegetable, and the 

 plant is for that purpose often semi-cultivated. The juice is believed t-o have 

 emetic properties and to be useful in opium poisoning. [Cf. Pharmacog. Ind., ii., 

 540 ; Dutt, Mat. Med. Hind., 1900, 302.] 



I. digitata, Linn. ; Talbot, List Trees, etc., 1902, 251. The bildikand, bhui-kohala, 

 matta-pal-tiga, etc. A large climbing perennial, cultivated on account of its 

 pink to purple flowers and its tuberous roots, used in Native medicine (see p. 1 1 20). 

 [Cf. The Bower Manuscript (Hoernle, transl.), 1893-7, 96 ; Pharmacog. Ind., 

 ii., 534-6 ; Dutt, I.e. 323.] 



I. hederacea, Jacq. / Rec. Bot. Surv. Ind., iii., 244. The nil-kalmi, baunra, bildi, 

 kodi, kdld-ddnd, kdkkatdn-virai, etc. An annual hairy twiner, cultivated in 

 India, but also found wild. The seeds known as kdld-ddna and mirchai are 

 purgative and resemble jalap in their action. They were made officinal in the 

 Pharmacopoeia India in 1868. The market rate is about 4 annas per Ib. Hooper 

 (Rept. Labor. Ind. Mus. (Indust. Sec.), 1905-6, 32-3) says that the seeds contain 

 8'05 per cent, of resin resembling conuotvuline, but in addition are rich in albu- 

 minous substances and contain 14'02 per cent, of a nauseous fat a disadvantage 

 in internal administration. [Cf. Pharmacog. Ind., ii., 530-4; Henry, Econ. Bot. 

 China, 1893, 49 ; Firminger, Man Gard. Ind. (ed. Cameron), 1904, 476.] 



Jalap. I. Purga, Hayne. Jalap. A climber, native of the Mexican Andes, 



at altitudes from 5,000 to 8,000 feet above the sea. In its native habitat 

 rain falls almost daily, and it flourishes best in shady woods with a deep 

 rich humus soil. 



In India it is cultivated on Dodabetta in the Nilgiri hills, and in the North- 

 Western Himalaya at Mussourie. The crop is an exhausting one. Formerly 

 the plant was grown among the cinchona trees, but this system has been abandoned, 

 since while the jalap nourished the cinchona was injured. Plants may be obtained 

 from cuttings set under shade in a moist, sandy soil* but for cultivation on a 

 large scale the smaller tuberous roots may preferably be used. These are placed 



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