GIG DRUGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. 



syringioides. There is also met with in Brazil another plant, 

 Herreria sarsaparilla, belonging to the same natural order, which 

 abounds in the provinces of Bio, Bahia, and Mina, and the roots 

 of which receive the name of wild sarsaparilla. 



From Mexico, Honduras, and Angostura very good qualities are 

 imported. S. zeylanica, glabra, and perfoliata furnish sarsaparilla 

 from Asia, and S. excelsa and aspera are used as substitutes for 

 the officinal drug in Europe. 



Smilax officinalis, found in woods near the Eio Magdalena in 

 New Granada, furnishes the best in the market, which is commonly 

 known as Jamaica Sarza. It differs from the other kinds in having 

 a deep red cuticle of a close texture, and the color is more generally 

 diffused through the ligneous part. It is shipped in bales, formed 

 either of the spirally formed roots, as in the Jamaica and Lima 

 varieties, or of unfolded parallel roots, as in the Brazilian varieties. 

 The roots are usually several feet long, about the thickness of a 

 quill, more or less wrinkled, and the whole quantity retained for 

 home consumption, in 1840, was 1 13,000 Ibs. In 1844, 184,748 

 Ibs., and in 1845 111,775 Ibs. were shipped from Honduras. 



The prices in the London market, at the close of 1853, were, 

 Brazil, Is. 3d. per Ib. ; Honduras, Is. 3d. to Is. 8d. per Ib. ; 

 Vera Cruz, 6d. to lid. per Ib. ; Jamaica, Is. Sd. to 3s. 4d. per Ib. 

 The duty received on sarsaparilla in 1842 was 1,536. 



The average annual quantity of sarsaparilla obtained from 

 Mexico and South America, exclusive of Brazil, and taken for 

 home consumption, in the twelve years ending with LS43 was 

 37,826 Ibs. 



IMPORTS OF BRAZILIAN SAUSAPARILLA. 



1827 28,155 



1828 49,280 



1829 52,772 



1830 19,842 



1831 31,972 



1832 91,238 



1833 13,077 



1834 28,803 



Ibs. 



1835 22,387 



1836 1,/18 



1837 12,842 



1838 _ 



1839 9,484 



1840 4.141 



1841 1,399 



1842 5,572 



The total imports in 1819 were 118,934 Ibs. 



Sarsaparilla has been found growing in the Port Phillip district 

 of Australia, and has been shipped thence in small quantities. 

 It seems to be indigenous to the Bahamas, and is to be found on 

 many of the out islands. Mr. Wm. Dalzell, of Abaco, collected 

 some considerable quantity at a place called Marsh Harbor, 

 which was found to be of a superior quality. 



Some thousands of pounds of sarsaparilla were brought to 

 Falmouth, Jamaica, last year, and bought by merchants for export. 

 It came from the parish of St. Elizabeth, and there are whole 

 forests covered with this weed, for such in reality it is. It is too 

 the real black Jamaica sarsaparilla, that is so much valued in the 



