SASSAFRAS 289 



World, sarsaparilla enjoyed a marvelous reputation, 

 which was evidently not interfered with by the fact 

 that it returned great profit to the dealers. A small 

 work issued by Girolamo Cardano (123), of Milan, 

 1559, advocates it most strongly in the direction of the 

 diseases mentioned. Sarsaparilla found its way into 

 pharmaceutical stores, where it made an eventful record 

 as a new remedy from the New World. In domestic 

 medicine, from the time of its introduction, a decoction 

 has been "authoritatively" considered serviceable as a 

 "blood purifier." It is not necessary to state that in 

 the form of a sweetened decoction, syrup of sarsaparilla 

 has, through several decades, enjoyed continual con- 

 spicuity in the U. S. Pharmacopeia. 



SASSAFRAS (Sassafras) 



Official in every edition of U. S. P. The early editions, 1820 

 and 1828, mention "the bark of the root." Beginning with 1830, 

 (New York ed.), both the bark and the pith of the stem are 

 official till 1900. The pith is dropped in 1910. The U. S. P., 

 1910, directs the root bark of Sassafras variifolium. 



Sassafras is indigenous to the Western Hemisphere, 

 occurring in Florida, Virginia, and as far north as Can- 

 ada. It is found as far west as Kansas, but is there 

 very scarce. Its occurrence in Brazil is recorded by 

 Piso, 1658, (511). Sassafras was in medicinal use 

 among the natives of Florida long before Ponce de Leon 

 in 1512 set foot on the soil of that peninsula. It is gen- 

 erally stated and believed that the Spaniards in 1538, 

 which is the date of De Soto's invasion of Florida, were 

 the first Europeans to obtain knowledge of the drug; 

 yet we can find no record of such a discovery in at least 

 two narratives of this expedition accessible to us. On 

 the other hand, there seems to be sufficient evidence 



