288 PHARMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



lianus (11), in the 6th century, commended this drug 

 as a remedy for intestinal worms. Saladinus, 1450, 

 (570), and afterwards several authors of the 16th cen- 

 tury, as Ruellius (561) and Dodonseus (195), refer to 

 the remedy as a vermifuge for children. Its empirical 

 use in domestic medicine is maintained to the present 

 time, and from this source its anthelmintic virtues 

 were learned by the profession. 



SARSAPARILLA (Sarsaparilla) 



Official in every edition of U. S. P., from 1820 to 1910. which 

 directs the root of Smilax medico, (Mexican sarsaparilla), or 

 Smilax officinalis, or an undetermined species of Smilax (Hon- 

 dura sarsaparilla), or Smilax ornata (Jamaica sarsaparilla). 



The drug sarsaparilla is furnished by the root of a 

 climbing plant of the genus Smilax, which prevails over 

 the northern part of South America, the whole of Cen- 

 tral America, and the west coast of Mexico. Many 

 varieties contribute the drug of commerce. Its qual- 

 ities were made known in the early European annals 

 from the commendation of explorers of the New World. 

 Monardes (447) is authority for the statement that it 

 was introduced to Seville about 1536 from "New 

 Spain," but that a different variety soon followed from 

 Honduras. The "Chronicle of Peru," by Pedro de 

 Cieze de Leon (151) 1553, mentions sarsaparilla as 

 growing in South America, where he observed it be- 

 tween 1533 and 1550. It was recommended as a cure 

 for syphilis and acute rheumatism, the Spaniards call- 

 ing it "an excellent medicine." The name then applied 

 to it was zarza parilla, afterward becoming sarsaparilla. 

 Like other remedies introduced in business channels 

 for commercial purposes from the wonderful New 



