1%; ii out us j .v'iaiceksis. ngKtamMk 



^niist rfeclare I coiild place no dependence on sarsarfnrilla But if mercury bad 



|ormerly been tried, or was used akmg wi v soon effected --- 



Where the patients had been i din 1 -by pain, ia 



o'ecpctiohof sarsaparilla, and a/table si i I ' adayj 



with the greatest success', i:i the raost dep i ' u< , ill-cured yaws, and 

 carious or ilirdisposfid sores or cancers. Wrigh '. 



This plant is- commonly known bytb'isn an l!a; but >me call it Smihi'x, it 



^Jjeingjihougbt to be.of the species- of' the~Chvna rog*. The stalk is long, serpentine* 

 -{',. - I prickly, ctimbi .. a"vhre or com tree or shrub it is 



near; the flowers are white, I produce a. berry, ound . aH cherries, 



^reen at first, an.l, as thej ripen, turn a little, i i, all ripeare black, 



containing one or two stoney seeds, of .1 . , 1 - . rig a white kernel. Al- 



though this plant grows in great plenty in B azi ; nd >i 1 :r p; 1 ts oi America, yet it is 



. not much taken notice of by the native Indians, these of . been found out 



and improved by the expert physicians of Portugal and Spain. 1 here are two species 

 of it; the stalks are alike, but 1 esyandsl te leaf. The best is 



that ofH : duras, which hath a stalk, whose outside is very ] ri< . creeping on the 

 hanks in shady woooy places ; the leaves are cor-dated, and 1 . rent length and 



breadth, of a fresh green on the upper side, the under si ptdc, growing single 



on the staUks, alternativejy, at from one another, having large ribs in 



shape and mariner of maldbttthrum, or Indian leaf, at the footstalk -of' each leaf g* n 

 two small long tendrils cr clavicles, by whi< h it ho Ids fast to the plan^ it joins to. Th 

 flower's grow in buncheSj and. are whitish; from thence follow the berries in bunches, 

 first green, then red, and at last black, round, or wrinkled and sh tted like dry 

 cherries, c. one or two .hard. stones, of a whitish yellow colour, with a hard 



white!; hel, 1 a small almond. The root of- this plant is what is made -use >of, andj 

 it is long and-smooth, when -first-gathered, like a withe, without anj , having 



a thin skin or bark ; bctweentii.it, and a small wire withe in the middle, lies a white 

 ineally substance when dry, which i- all that is < and of this ptisans or diet drinks 



are made, to sweeten the blood, andforcwing-vetiereal diseases. The powder of the 

 root is given, from a drachm to two, to cause sweat, h is reckoned a great alkali, u* 

 correct all saline pungent salts in the llnids of the body, an J. by that means cures 

 venereal diseases, helps rheumatism, catarrhs, gouts, and all diseases proceeding from 

 a superaboundmg saline acid in the blood and juices of the body. BarAam, p. 166. 



To be good, sarsaparilla must be very dry, its filaments Ion;;, easy to cleave; and in 

 cleaving they must not yield any dust : when boiled in water, it must givedt a re :disl< 

 tincture. The method of preparing it by the Spaniards and Indians of South America 

 is as follows : They macerate an ounce of the root in almost four pint.; oi water for 

 twenty-four hours, and boil it away to one half They give of the expressed decoction 

 half a pint twice a day, four hours before their meals, in bed, covered with clothes* 

 where they sweat two hours, mixing a sufficient quantity of the fine powder of the roet 

 j0ritb each dose of the decoction. They purge every tenth day. 



*AXEIQN. 



