SPECIES  OF  IPOMCEA  AFFORDING  TAMPICO  JALAP.  331 
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."^  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  sub- 
ject. Mr.  Finck  at  first  expressed  strong  doubts  as  to  Tampico 
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  pro- 
duction of  the  State  of  Guanajuato,  where  it  grows  along  the 
Sierra  Gorda,  in  the  neighborhood  of  San  Luis  de  la  Paz.  At 
this  town  and  in  the  adjacent  villages,  it  is  purchased  of  the  In- 
dians 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  em- 
barrassing. The  first  lot  of  specimens  dispatched  from  Guana- 
juato was  stolen  from  the  mail  ;  the  second  shared  the  same  fate  ; 
while  a  third,  which  included  live  tubercules,  was,  by  successive 
detentions  on  the  w^ay,  fully  five  months  in  reaching  England. 
The  box,  however,  came  to  hand  in  June  last  (1869)  ;  and  amid 
a  mass  of  damp  earth  and  decaying  matter,  I  had  the  satisfac- 
tion of  discovering  one  solitary  tubercule  exhibiting  signs  of 
vitality.  This,  placed  in  a  greenhouse  and  carefully  nursed, 
soon  began  to  grow  with  rapidity,  and,  on  removal  to  an  open 
border,  produced  a  tall  and  vigorous  plant,  which  towards  Sep- 
*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. 
