SASSAFRAS 373 



All parts of the plant secrete in special cells an aromatic volatile oil, 

 but this is especially the case with the bark of the root. 



Description. -The tree produces large, woody, branching roots 

 covered with a dark reddish or greyish brown spongy bark, from which, 

 however, they are often entirely freed, the bark constituting in America 

 a separate article of trade, and realising, on account of its greater 

 fragrance, a higher price than the wood. The latter is greyish yellow 

 or greyish red in colour, soft, and easily cut ; it exhibits in transverse 

 section distinct annual rings traversed by thin, dark, medullary rays 

 and containing large vessels. Both bark and wood, but especially the 

 former, have an agreeable, fragrant odour, and an aromatic, slightly 

 astringent taste. 



Constituents. The root contains about 2 per cent, of volatile oil, 

 which is obtained from it by distillation, and employed in large quan- 

 tities as a perfume and flavouring agent ; its chief constituent is safrol 

 (80 per cent.). The bark yields from 6 to 9 per cent, of oil. 



Uses. Sassafras is supposed to increase the action of the skin in 

 syphilis and rheumatism, and thus to be an alterative, but its physio- 

 logical action is not definitely known. 



TURMERIC 



(Rhizoma Curcumas) 



Source, &C. The plant yielding turmeric, Curcuma longa, Linne 

 (N.O. Scitaminece), is apparently a native of southern Asia, though 

 no longer known in the wild state. It is largely cultivated in India, 

 China, Java, and other tropical countries. The rhizome has long 

 been employed both as a spice and as a colouring agent (Crocus indicus). 

 It was certainly known to Dioscorides, and described by him as a root 

 resembling ginger, but having a yellow colour and bitter taste. During 

 the Middle Ages it fell into disuse, and is now considered much inferior 

 to ginger and other spices, whilst in India it is largely employed as 

 a dye and as a condiment. 



The rhizomes are dug up after the herbaceous aerial stems have 

 died down ; there is then found an upright, bulb-shaped rhizome, 

 from which the stem has sprung and to which several cylindrical 

 descending branches are attached. One or more of the latter, destined 

 to produce aerial stems in the following year, will curve upwards and 

 thicken to form bulb-shaped organs. The rhizomes so obtained are 

 then steamed in their own juice or boiled in water for a half to one 

 day, by which the vitality that they otherwise obstinately retain is 

 destroyed. They are finally dried either in the sun or in an oven, and 

 (sometimes) sorted into ' fingers ' and ' bulbs,' the former being the 



