-SMILAX MEDICA. 51 
SMILACEA. 
LINDLEY. 
THE SMILAX TRIBE. 
EssentiaAL Cuar.—F lowers hermaphrodite or dicecious. Calyx and corolla confounded, inferior, six-parted. 
Stamens six, inserted into the perianth near the base; seldom hypogynous. Ovary three-celled ; the cells one or 
many-seeded. Style usually trifid. St¢gmas three. Fruit a roundish berry, Albumen between fleshy and carti- 
laginous. Eméryo usually distant from the hylum. Herbaceous plants or under shrubs, with a tendency to climb. 
Stems woody. Leaves reticulated. (Lendley.) 
The species of Smilax which yield the root called sarsaparilla, contain an acrid principle smilacine and starch, 
The structure of the root is peculiar, a ligneous cord, surrounded by starchy cortical substance. 
SMILAX MEDICA. 
SCHLECHTENDALL. 
Sex. Syst.—Dicecia, Hexandria. 
Gen. Cuar.—Dicecious. Perianth six-parted, nearly equal, spreading. Male. Stamens six. Anthers erect. 
Female. Perianth permanent. Ovary three-celled, the cells one-seeded. Style very short. Stéigmas three. Berry 
one and three-seeded. Seeds roundish. Albwmen cartilaginous. Embryo remote from the hylum. (R. Brown.) 
Specir. Cuar.—Stem angular, armed with straight aculei at the joints, and with a few hooked ones in the inter- 
vals. Leaves of the texture of paper, bright green on each side, smooth, cordate, auriculate, shortly acuminate, five- 
nerved, with the veins of the underside prominent. In form they are very variable, being ovate, somewhat panduri- 
form, auriculate, and somewhat hastate, with the lobes of the base obtuse, sometimes obsolete, sometimes divaricating ; 
their edge not straight, but as if irregularly crenate. Petioles and midrib armed, when old, with straight subulate 
prickles. Peduncle axillary, smooth, about an inch long. Inflorescence an eight to twelve flowered umbel. Frust 
red, size of a small cherry, contains one to three reddish-brown seeds. Embryo cylindrical, lodged in a horny albu: 
men. (Lindley. Nees.) Be Le 
Dr. Lindley states, that this is undoubtedly the species which produces the Vera Cruz Sarsaparilla. “Scheide, 
who found it on the eastern slope of the Mexican Andes, says it is carried from the villages of Papantla, Tuspan, 
Nantla, Misantla, &c., to Vera Cruz under the name of Zarsaparilla, and there is introduced into the European mar- 
ket. He was told that the roots were gathered all the year long, dried in the sun and then tied in bundles for sale. 
(Linnea, iv., 576.) It comes dried to the United States, in large rather loose bales, weighing about two hundred 
pounds, bound with cords or leather thongs, and usually containing the roots folded upon themselves and separately 
packed. These, as in the Honduras Sarsaparilla, consist of a head or caudex, with numerous long radicles, which; 
however, are somewhat smaller than in that variety, and have a thinner bark. They are often soiled with earth.” 
(U. S. Dispensatory.) 
_ This variety has not been as much esteemed as the other kinds, 
(Am. Journ. of Pharm., N. S., vol. xii., 260,) it affords an extract 
inferior to Brazilian. eee. 
Sarsaparilla contains sarsaparillin (Thubeuf), smilacin (Folcht), paraglin (Palotti), parallinic acid (Batka), = 
Stances shown to be identical by Poggiale. This principle is white and granular. It possesses the acridity of the 
root. It also contains colouring substance, resin, starch, lignin, thick fixed aromatic oil, wax, and salts. . 
_ This medicine is alterative in its impression, and is given in infusion, decoction, syrup, and extract. It is usually 
given in combination, and enters into the composition of numerous preparations. 
Puate XCV.—Represents the plant in leaf and fruit, and the organs of r si 
but from the experiments of Dr. Ruschenberger, 
better than that of Honduras Sarsaparilla, and 
