322 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



boiling the young shoots in water, adding molasses, and fer- 

 menting. The taste of the leaves is mucilaginous and pleas- 

 . ant ; of the fruit, disagreeably spicy. 



For its medicinal properties, the sassafras has long been cele- 

 brated. On this account, it was much sought for by the earliest 

 visitors to America ; and its roots formed a part of the first 

 cargo exported from Massachusetts.* At that time, it " com- 

 manded an extravagant price, and treatises were written to 

 celebrate its virtues." The following account is from Dr. Big- 

 elow's Medical Botany, II, p. 144 : — 



"The bark of this tree has a fragrant smell and a very 

 agreeable spicy taste. The flavor of the root is most power- 

 ful, that of the branches more pleasant. The flavor and odor 

 reside in a volatile oil, which is readily obtained from the bark 

 by distillation. It is of a light color, becoming darker by age, 

 very pungent, and heavier than water, so that it sinks in that 

 fluid when the drops are sufficiently large to overcome the re- 

 pulsion at the surface. The bark and pith of the young twigs 

 abound with a pure and delicate mucilage. A very small quan- 

 tity of the pith infused in a glass of water gives to the whole a 

 ropy consistence, like the white of an egg. This mucilage has 

 the uncommon quality that it is not precipitated, coagulated, or 

 rendered turbid by alcohol. It continues in a perfectly trans- 

 parent state when mixed with that fluid, though it does not 

 unite with it. When evaporated to dryness, it leaves a light- 

 colored, gum- like residuum. 



" The volatile oil and the mucilage appear to contain all the 

 medicinal virtue of the tree. 



"The bark and wood of the sassafras were formerly much 

 celebrated in the cure of various complaints; it is now recog- 

 nized only with regard to its general properties, which are those 

 of a warm stimulant and diaphoretic." 



A decoction of the bark is said to communicate to wool a 

 durable orange color. 



The sassafras is found as far north as Canada. It is there, 

 however, a small tree, not often exceeding fifteen or twenty 

 feet in height. In the Middle States, it is found forty or fifty 



* Gosnold, in Belknap's American Biography, I, 238. 



