SENNA. 647 



European and American markets. It is also found in other parts 

 of the island. 



In 1798 3,674 Ibs. of sarsaparilla were shipped from La Guayra ; 

 2,394 Ibs. in 1801 from Puerto Cabella, and 400 quintals from 

 Costa llica, in 1845, valued at eight dollars a quintal. 



SENNA. Several varieties of Cassia, natives of the East, are 

 grown for the production of this drug. The dried leaves of C. 

 lanceolata or orientalis, grown in Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, the 

 true Mecca senna, are considered the best. In Egypt the leaves 

 of Cynanchum Arghel are used for adulterating senna, Cassia 

 obovata or C. senna, also a native of Egypt, cultivated in the East 

 Indies, as well as in Spain, Italy, and Jamaica. It is a perennial 

 herb, one or two feet high. In the liast Indies there is a variety 

 (C. elongatd) common about Tinnivelly, Coimbatore, Bombay, and 

 Agra, &c. Several of this species are common in the West India 

 islands. The plants, which are for the most part evergreens, grow 

 from two to fifteen feet high ; they delight in a loamy soil, or 

 mixture of loam or peat. 



The seed is drilled in the ground, and the only attention re- 

 quired by the plant is loosening the ground and weeding two or 

 three times when it is young. 



The senna leaves imported from India are not generally so clean 

 and free from rubbish as those from Alexandria. They are worth 

 from 20s to 27s. per cwt. in the Bombay market. 



The prices are Alexandria, l|d. to 6d. per Ib. ; East Indian, 

 2d. to 3d. per Ib. ; Tinnevelly, 7d. to 9|d. per Ib. 



Senna is collected in various parts of Africa by the Arabs, who 

 make two crops annually ; one, the most productive, after the 

 rains in August and September, the other about the middle of 

 March. It is brought to Boulack, the port of Cairo, by the cara- 

 vans, &c., from Abyssinia, Nubia, and Sennaar, also by the way of 

 Cossier, the Eed Sea, and Suez. The different leaves are mixed, 

 and adulterated with arghel leaves. The whole shipments from 

 Boulack to Alexandria, whence it finds it way to Europe, is 14,000 

 to 15,500 quintals. 



The quantities imported for home consumption were 



From the East Indies. Other places. Total. 

 Ibs. Ibs. Ibs. 



1838 .... 72,576 .... 69 88 .... 142,114 



1839 .... 110,409 .... 6,566 .... 174,175 



In 1840, 211,400 Ibs. paid duty, which is now only Id. per Ib. 



In 1848, we imported 800,000 Ibs. from India ; in 1849, the 

 total imports were 541,143 Ibs. The imports into the United 

 Kingdom were, in 1847, 246 tons ; 1848, 402 tons ; 1849, 240 tons. 



Alexandrian senna (Cassia acutifolid). This species is said by 

 some to constitute the bulk of the senna consumed for medical 

 purposes in Europe. It is much adulterated with the leaves of 

 Cynanchum Arghel, Tiphrosia apollinea, and Coriaria myrtifolia. 



C. lanceolata and C. ethiopica furnish other species of the same 



