350 



TAMPICO JALAP. 



1870. 



Tampico 

 Jalap. 



Botanical 

 origin. 



exsert stamens, to Choisy's genus Exogonium. As this genus 

 has been recently united to Ipomosa by Dr. Meisner, it appears 

 best to return to the name proposed by Hayne, and to call the 

 true jalap-plant Ipomcea purga. 



The unsettled condition of Mexico, and the fluctuations of 

 commerce, have alternately depreciated or enhanced the value of 

 jalap, and have led to the occasional importation of other roots 

 possessing more or less of the characters of the true drug. Of 

 such kinds of jalap, one of the most remarkable is a tubercule 

 imported a few years ago for the first time from Tampico, and 

 thence called Tampico jalap. 1 This drug has been extensively 

 brought into the market (that is to say by hundreds of bales) ; 

 and though it is less rich in resin and less purgative than true 

 jalap, yet, on account of its lower price, it has found a ready 

 sale, chiefly in continental trade. 



As the botanical origin of 'this so-called Tampico jalap and 

 even its place of growth were completely unknown, I addressed 

 a letter, in November, 1867, to my friend Hugo Finck, Esq., 

 Prussian Vice-Consul at Cordova (Mexico), begging that he 

 would, if possible, procure for me some information on the 

 subject. Mr. Finck at first expressed strong doubts as to Tam- 

 pico jalap being anything else than the root of Batatas jalapa, 

 Chois., known in Mexico as Purga macho. Upon inquiry, 

 however, he ascertained that such could not be the case, but 

 that it is a production of the State of Guanajuato, where it 

 grows along the Sierra Gorda, in the neighbourhood of San Luis 

 de la Paz. At this town, and in the adjacent villages, it is pur- 

 chased of the Indians and carried by the muleteers to Tampico, 

 where it is known as Purga de Sierra Gorda. 



All attempts to procure specimens of the plant were for some 

 time fruitless, chiefly owing to the difficulty of finding any one 

 in the district who could be induced to take the needful trouble. 

 The perseverance of Mr. Finck and his friend Mr. E. Benecke, 

 Consul- General for Prussia in the city of Mexico, overcame at 

 length this obstacle, but only to meet with others hardly less 



1 I cannot, at least, trace this jalap to have been offered in commerce as a 

 distinct sort earlier than about five or six years ago. 



