JALAP  , a cathartic

drug consisting of the tuberous roots of Ipomaea Purge, a convolvulaceous plant growing on the eastern declivities of the Mexican Andes at an elevation of 5000 to 8000 ft. above the level of the sea, more especially about the neighbourhood of Chiconquiaco, and near San Salvador on the eastern slope of the Cofre de Perote . ' Jalap has been known in Europe since the beginning of the 17th century, and derives its name from the city of Jalapa in Mexico, near which it grows, but its botanical source was not accurately determined until 1829, when Dr . J . R . Coxe of Philadelphia published a description Jalap (Iommaea Purga) ; about half natural size . resinous or starchy fracture . The ordinary drug is distinguished in commerce as Vera Cruz jalap, from the name of the port whence it is shipped . 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 . They are found, however, to be rich in resin, containing 18% . In Jamaica also the plant has been grown, at first amongst the cinchona trees, but more recently in new ground, as it was found to exhaust the soil . Besides Mexican or Vera Cruz jalap, a drug called Tampico jalap has been imported for some years in considerable quantity . It has a much more shrivelled appearance and paler colour than ordinary jalap, and lacks the small transverse scars present in the true drug .

This

kind of jalap, the Purga de Sierra Gorda of the Mexicans, was traced by Hanbury to I pomaea simulans . In early times Jalaun seems to have been the home of two Rajput clans, the Chandels in the east and the Kachwahas in the west . The town of Kalpi on the Jumna was conquered for the princes of Ghor as early as 1196 . Early in the 14th century the Bundelas occupied the greater part of Jalaun, and even succeeded in holding the fortified post of Kalpi . That important possession was soon recovered by the Mussulmans, and passed under the sway of the Mogul emperors . Akbar's governors at Kalpi maintained a nominal authority over the surrounding district; and the Bundela chiefs were in a state of chronic revolt, which culminated in the war of independence under Chhatar Sal . On the outbreak of his rebellion in 1671 he occupied a large province to the south of the Jumna . Setting out from this basis, and assisted by the Mahrattas, he reduced the whole of Bundelkhand . On his death he bequeathed one-third of his dominions to his Mahratta allies, who before long succeeded in annexing the whole of Bundelkhand . Under Mahratta rule the country was a prey to constant anarchy and intestine strife . To this period must he traced the origin of the poverty and desolation which are still conspicuous throughout the district . In 1.8o6 Kalpi was made over to the British, and in 1840, on the death of Nana Gobind Ras, his possessions lapsed to them also .

Various interchanges of territory took place, and in 1856 the present boundaries were substantially settled . Jalaun had a

bad reputation during the Mutiny . When the news of the rising at Cawnpore reached Kalpi, the men of the 53rd native infantry deserted their officers, and in June the Jhansi mutineers reached the district, and began their murder of Europeans . The inhabitants everywhere revelled in the licence of plunder and murder which the Mutiny had spread through all Bundelkhand, and it was not till September 1858 that the rebels were finally defeated .