1502 ARBORETUM AND FRU‘TICETUM. . PART ILI. 
supported by long red peduncles. These berries are greedily devoured by 
birds, and consequently do not remain long on the tree. The bark of the 
young branches is smooth, and beautifully green; but, when old, it becomes 
of “ a greyish colour, and is chapped into deep cracks. On cutting into it, 
it exhibits a dark dull red, a good deal resembling the colour of Peruvian 
bark.” (Michr. N. Amer. Syl., ii. p. 146.) In the United States the sassa- 
fras is found as far north as lat. 43°; but it there appears only as a tall shrub, 
rarely exceeding 15 ft. or 20 ft. in height. In the neighbourhood of New 
York and Philadelphia, however, it grows to the height of 40 ft. or 50 ft., 
and attains a still greater size in the southern states. It is abundant from 
“* Boston to the banks of the Mississippi, and from the shores of the ocean 
in Virginia to the remotest wilds of Upper Louisiana beyond the Missouri, 
comprising an extent in each direction of more than 1800 miles.” ( Miche.) 
“The sassafras, on account of its medicinal properties, was one of the first 
American trees which became known to Europeans. Monardez, in 1549, and 
after him Clusius,” treat of its uses. Gerard calls it the ague tree, and says, 
that a decoction of its bark will cure agues, and many other diseases. The 
bark is still employed in medicine, that of the roots being preferred ; and it is 
said to be an excellent sudorific. A decoction of the chips is well known as 
a remedy for scorbutic affections. In different parts of the United States, a 
tea is made of the flowers, which is considered very efficacious in purifying 
the blood. In Louisiana the leaves are used to thicken pottage; and in 
Virginia a beer is made of the young shoots. The sassafras chips which are 
sold in the English druggists’ shops are formed of the wood of this tree; but 
what are called the sassafras nuts are the fruit of the Latrus Pucheri of the 
Flora Peruviana. (See Lindl. Nat. Syst.of Bot.) Bigelow says that this tree is 
produced in almost every part of the United States. “ It not only inhabits 
every latitude from New England to Florida, but we are told it is also found 
in the forests of Mexico, and even in those of Brazil. Its peculiar foliage, 
and the spicy qualities of its bark, render it a prominent object of notice, and 
it seems to have been one of the earliest trees of the North American con- 
tinent to attract the attention of Europeans. Its character, as an article of 
medicine, was at one time so high, that it commanded an extravagant price, 
and treatises were written to celebrate its virtues. It still retains a place in 
the best European pharmacopeias.” (Bigelow’s American Botany, vol. ii. p.141.) 
He adds that “ the bark has an agreeable smell, and a fragrant spicy taste. 
The flavour of the root is more powerful than that of the branches ; and koth 
flavour and odour reside in a volatile oil, which is readily obtained from the 
bark by distillation. The bark and pith of the young twigs abound with a 
pure and delicate mucilage ; and in this mucilage and the volatile oil all the 
medicinal virtues of the tree are contained. The bark and wood were for- 
merly much celebrated in the cure of various complaints, particularly in 
rheumatism and dropsy; but they are now only recognised as forming a warm 
stimulant and diaphoretic.’ (Jbid.) The sassafras is of little value as a 
timber tree. In America, the wood, which is white or reddish, is sometimes 
used for making bedsteads and other articles of furniture, which are not liable 
to be attacked by insects, and have a most agreeable odour, which they re- 
tain as long as they are sheltered from the sun and rain. The wood is of 
very little esteem for fuel; and the “ bark contains a great deal of air, and 
snaps while burning like that of the chestnut.” (Michz.) The most inter- 
esting historical recollection connected with this tree is, that it may be said to 
have led to the discovery of America; as it was its strong fragrance, smelt by 
Columbus, that encouraged him to persevere when his crew mutinied, and 
enabled him to convince them that land was near at hand. 
Soil, Propagation, §c. Any free soil, rather moist than dry, will suit this 
species, which is generally propagated from imported seeds, which should be 
sown or put in a rot-heap, as soon as received, as they remain a year, and 
sometimes two or three years, in the ground, before they come up. The sas- 
safras may also be propagated by cuttings of the roots, or by suckers, which 
