OLEUM SASSAFRAS 



195 



DESCRIPTION OF DRUG. In small, irregular, rust-brown fragments, 

 deprived of the grayish-brown, fissured, corky layer, leaving a red- 

 dish or rust-brown surface; i to % 5 mm. (^5 to ^ in.) thick. It 

 breaks with a short, corky fracture, exposing a whitish interior 

 dotted with numerous oil-cells; odor highly fragrant, characteristic; 

 taste sweetish, aromatic. Oil is employed in the compound syrup 

 of sarsaparilla. 



Powder. Characteristic elements: See Part iv, Chap. I, B. 



CONSTITUENTS. Volatile oil (about 5 per cent.), camphoraceous matter, 

 tannin (6 per cent.), sassafrid (a derivative of tannin, 9 per cent.), 

 gum, resin, starch, etc. Ash, not exceeding 30 per cent. 



FIG. 98. Sassafras Cross-section of bark. (27 diam.) A, Cork. B, Parenchyma of primary 

 cortex. C, Medullary ray. (Photomicrograph.) 



ACTION AND USES. Aromatic stimulant, alterative, and astringent. It is 

 used almost entirely as an adjuvant or corrective. The infusion is 

 used as a popular household remedy for its diuretic and diaphoretic 

 effects in febrile states. Dose: 30 to 120 gr. (2. to 8 Gm.), in infusion. 



170 a. OLEUM SASSAFRAS, U.S. A volatile oil usuaUy distilled 

 from the entire root. A colorless or yellow liquid, sp. gr. 1.065- 

 1.075, becoming thicker and of a reddish color by age and exposure, 

 and having the characteristic odor and taste of sassafras. It con- 

 tains a hydrocarbon (safrene, Ci Hi 6 ), and an oxygenated compound, 

 safrol, CioHioO 2 (melts at 8.5C., 47.3^.), a widely distributed prin- 



