> SASSAFRAS-TREE. 419 



But for these purposes, the timber of this tree is not in habitual use, being only 

 occasionally employed. The wood is of very little esteem for fuel ; and llie bark 

 contains a considerable portion of air, and snaps while burning, like that of the 

 chesnut. The wood imparts to wool a very durable orange-colour. 



Medicinally, the wood, bark, and roots of the sassafras, are considered to be an 

 excellent stimulant and sudorific, and may be advantageously employed in mate- 

 ria medica, and in the veterinary art. They were formerly much celebrated in 

 the cure of various complaints, particularly in rheumatism, dropsy, and cutaneous 

 eruptions ; but, by modern practitioners, they are only recognized as forming a 

 warm stimulant and diaphoretic. The wood is slightly aromatic and somewhat 

 acrimonious, depending on a resin and an essential oil ; but the smell and taste, 

 which are peculiar to this vegetable, are more sensible in the young branches, 

 and comparatively more so in the bark of the roots. A decoction of the sassafras 

 chips, sold by druggists, is well known as a remedy for scorbutic affections. 

 The bark and pith of the young twigs, as well as the tender leaves, abound with 

 a pure mucilaginous principle resembling that of the Hibiscus esculentus (ochra.) 

 Mucilage of sassafras pith is peculiarly mild and lubricatory, and has been 

 used with much benefit in dysentery and catarrh, and particularly as a lotion in 

 the inflammatory stages of ophthalmia. From the bark of the roots the greatest 

 quantity of essential oil is extracted, which, after long exposure to the cold, it is 

 said, deposits very beautiful crystals. The flowers of this tree, which have a 

 weak aromatic odour, when fresh, are considered as stomachic and efficacious in 

 purifying the blood; and for this purpose, during a fortnight in the spring, an 

 infusion of them is drunk with a little sugar, in the manner of tea. In Louisiana, 

 the leaves are used to thicken pottage ; and in various parts of the United States, 

 an agreeable beverage is formed with the aid of the young shoots, and of the bark 

 of the roots, usually known by the name of ' Root Beer," which is considered as 

 very salutary during the months of summer. The fruits of the sassafras are 

 much in quest by perfumers, who convert them into powder, which they put up 

 in small sachets; but what are known by druggists under the name of "sassa- 

 fras nuts,'- are the fruit of the Laurus pucheri, a native of Peru. 



