noun
definition
A cathartic drug consisting of the tuberous roots of Ipomoea purga, a convolvulaceous plant found in Mexico.
Examples of jalap in a Sentence
It has a much more shrivelled appearance and paler colour than ordinary jalap, and lacks the small transverse scars present in the true drug.
Jalap has been cultivated for many years in India, chiefly at Ootacamund, and grows there as easily as a yam, often producing clusters of tubers weighing over 9 lb; but these, as they differ in appearance from the commercial article, have not as yet obtained a place in the English market.
One preparation of this drug is in common use, the Pulvis Jalapae Compositus, which consists of 5 parts of jalap, 9 of cream of tartar, and i of ginger.
Jalap Plant (Exogonium) - A graceful perennial trailing plant, none more beautiful among climbing plants than E. purga, and of its hardiness there can be little doubt.
A few medicated soaps are prepared for internal use, among which are croton soap and jalap soap, both gentler cathartics than the uncompounded medicinal principles.
Several members of the order are used medicinally for the strong purging properties of the milky juice (latex) which they contain; scammony is the dried latex from the underground stem of Convolvulus Scarnmonia, a native of the Levant, while jalap is the product of the tubercles of Exogonium Purga, a native of Mexico.
The jalap plant has slender herbaceous twining stems, with alternately placed heart-shaped pointed leaves and salver-shaped deep purplish-pink flowers.
The ordinary drug is distinguished in commerce as Vera Cruz jalap, from the name of the port whence it is shipped.
Besides Mexican or Vera Cruz jalap, a drug called Tampico jalap has been imported for some years in considerable quantity.
This kind of jalap, the Purga de Sierra Gorda of the Mexicans, was traced by Hanbury to I pomaea simulans.
A third variety of jalap known as woody jalap, male jalap, or Orizaba root, or by the Mexicans as Purgo macho, is derived from Ipomaea orizabensis, a plant of Orizaba.
The dose of jalap is from five to twenty grains, the British Pharmacopeia directing that it must contain from 9 to II% of the resin, which is given in doses of two to five grains.
The chief constituents of jalap resin are two glucosides - convol- vulin.
Jalap is a typical hydragogue purgative, causing the excretion of more fluid than scammony, but producing less stimulation of the muscular wall of the bowel.
Among the well-known forest products of this zone are arnotto, jalap, ipecacuanha, sarsaparilla, rubber, orchids and a great variety of gums.
The natural and forest products of Mexico include the agave and yucca (ixtle) fibres already mentioned; the " ceibon " fibre derived from the silk-cotton tree (Bombax pentandria); rubber and vanilla in addition to the cultivated products; palm oil; castor beans; ginger; chicle, the gum extracted from the " chico-zapote " tree (Achras sapota); logwood and other dye-woods; mahogany, rosewood, ebony, cedar and other valuable woods; " cascalote " or divi-divi; jalap root (Ipomaea); sarsaparilla (Smilax); nuts and fruits.