292 PHARMACOPEIAL DRUGS 



eludes sassafras from being the tree referred to. How- 

 ever, it is further stated (page 10) that in councils of 

 war and peace the native king gathers around him the 

 priests and the eldest of the tribe, and that they drink 

 from the same vessel a decoction quite hot, called by 

 them "casing" made from the leaves of a certain tree. 

 This might refer to sassafras, for the further statement 

 is made that this potion has the effect of causing abun- 

 dant sweats. 



It must, in our opinion, with due deference to pre- 

 ceding authorities, be mere conjecture as to whether any 

 of their descriptions answer to sassafras. 



De Laet credits Ximenez with the statement that 

 sassafras wood has the property of rendering sea water 

 potable, as experienced by Ximenez on a voyage from 

 Florida to Vera Cruz in 1605. 



Soon after the discovery of sassafras the drug was 

 exported to Europe, and became at once known in 

 Spain and France. It was well known in Frankfort- 

 on-the-Main as early as 1582, and in Hamburg in 1587, 

 at which time it was termed lignum pavanum sen flori- 

 dum, sen xylomarathri (fennel-wood) (Fliickiger, Am. 

 Journ. Phar., 1876). Sailing expeditions to America 

 were undertaken in those times to secure the wood as 

 well as the root. An English merchant, Martin Pring, 

 is recorded by Charles Pickering (510) as having with 

 two small vessels arrived on the American coast in the 

 beginning of June, 1603. The point named is 43 de- 

 grees long, and 44 degrees north lat., among a multi- 

 tude of islands. Following the coast south in search of 

 sassafras, he entered a large sound, and on the north 

 side in the latitude 41 degrees and "odde" minutes 

 built a hut and enclosed it with a barricade, where 



