538 LAURACE^. 



The roots proper, which diminish in size down to the thickness of a 

 quill, are covered with a dull, rough, spongy bark. This bark has an 

 inert, soft corky layer, beneath which is a firmer inner bark of brighter 

 hue, rich in essential oil. The wood of the root is light and easily cut, 

 in colour of a dull reddish brown, and with a fragrant odour and spicy 

 taste similar to that of the bark but less strong. It is usually sold in 

 the shops rasped into shavings. 



The hark of the root {Cortex sassafras) is a separate article of 

 commerce, but not much used in England. It consists of channelled, 

 flattish, or curled, irregular fragments seldom exceeding 4 inches long 

 by 3 inches broad and generally much smaller, and from ^^ to { of an 

 inch in thickness. The inert outer layer has been carefully removed, 

 leaving a scarred, exfoliating surface. The inner surface is finely striated 

 and exhibits very minute shining crystals. The bark has a short, corky 

 fracture, and in colour is a bright cinnamon brown of various shades. It 

 has a sti'ong and agreeable smell, with an astringent, aromatic, bitterish 

 taste. 



Microscopic Structure — The wood of the root exhibits, in trans- 

 verse section, concentric rings transversed by narrow medullary rays. 

 Each ring contains a number of large vessels in its inner part, and more 

 densely packed cells in its outer. The prevailing part of the wood 

 consists of prosenchyme cells. Globular cells, loaded with yellow 

 essential oil, are distributed among the woody prosenchyme. The latter 

 as well as the medullary rays abounds in starch. 



The bark is rich in oil-cells and also contains cells filled with 

 mucilage ; it owes its spongy appearance and exfoliation to the formation 

 of secondary cork bands (rhytidonia) within the mesophloeum and even 

 in the liber. The cortical tissue abounds in red colouring matter, and 

 further contains starch and, less abundantly, oxalate of calcium. 



Chemical Composition — The wood of the root yields 1 to 2 per 

 cent, of volatile oil,^ and the root-bark twice as much. The stem and 

 leaves of the tree contain but a very small quantity. The oil, which as 

 found in commerce is all manufactured in America, has the specific odour 

 of sassafras, and is colourless, yellow, or reddish-brown, according, as 

 the distillers assert, to the character of the root employed. As the colour of 

 the oil does not affect its flavour and market value, no effort is made to 

 keep separate the different varieties of root. 



Oil of Sassafras has a sp. gr. of 1087 to 1*094, increasing somewhat 

 by age (Procter). When cooled, it deposits crystals of Safrol or Sassafras 

 Camphor. This body, which we obtained in the form of hard, four- or six- 

 sided prisms with the odour of sassafras, often attaining more than 4 

 inches in length and 1 inch in diameter, belongs to the monosymmetric 

 system, as shown by Arzruni.^ Safrol, C^^W^O'^, liquefies at 8°'5 C. 

 (47° F.), having at 12° C. a sp. gr. of 1 11 ; it boils at 232° C, and is 

 devoid of rotatory power, nor is it soluble in alkalis. The researches 

 of Grimaux and Ruotte (1869) show the oil to contain nine-tenths 

 of its weight of Safrol which they observed only in the liquid state. 



^ According to information obtained by Procter, Essay on Sassafras in the Proceed- 



Procter, 11 busliels of chips (the charge of a bigs of the American Pharm. Association, 



still) yields from 1 to 5 lb. of oil, the amount 18(56. 217. 



varying with the quality of the root and -PoggendorfF8-4HHrt?ert, clviii. (1876)249, 



the proportion of bark it may contain. — with figures of the crystals. 



