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Webster 1913 Edition

Turpeth

Tur′peth

,
Noun.
[NL.
turpethum
, fr. Per.
tirbid
a cathartic,
turbad
a purgative root. Cf.
Turbith
.]
[Written also
turbeth
, and
turbith
.]
1.
(Bot.)
The root of
Ipomœa Turpethum
, a plant of Ceylon, Malabar, and Australia, formerly used in medicine as a purgative; – sometimes called
vegetable turpeth
.
2.
(Chem.)
A heavy yellow powder,
Hg3O2SO4
, which consists of a basic mercuric sulphate; – called also
turpeth mineral
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Turpeth

TUR'PETH

,
Noun.
A root brought from the East Indies, particularly from Cambaya, Surat and Goa, or from Ceylon. It is the cortical part of the root of a species of Convolvulus. That sold in the shops is a longish root, of the thickness of the finger, resinous, heavy, and of a brownish hue without, but whitish within. It is cathartic.
Turbith or turpeth mineral, is the yellow precipitate of mercury, called sometimes yellow subsulphate of mercury, or subdeutosulphate.

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