CRUDE DRUGS. 541 



The principal constituent of the volatile oil is safrol. The oil 

 from the leaves differs essentially in composition from that of the 

 root bark, containing linalool and geraniol. 



Allied Plants. — Other plants of this family also yield a vola- 

 tile oil containing safrol, as Beilschmiedia oppositifolia of Queens- 

 land and New South Wales ; Mespilodaphne Sassafras and Nec- 

 tandra Puchury-minor, both of Brazil. 



QUILLAJA.— SOAP BARK.— The bark of Qiiillaja Sapon- 

 aria (Fam. Rosaceas), a tree (Fig. 149) indigenous to Chile and 

 Peru. The bark is removed in large pieces, deprived of the peri- 

 derm and dried (p. 290). 



Description. — In flat pieces 25 to 90 cm. long, 10 to 15 cm. 

 wide, 4 to 6 mm. thick; outer surface light brown, longitudinally 

 striate, with numerous crystals of calcium oxalate and occasional 

 patches of the dark-brown periderm; inner surface yellowish- 

 brown, finely wrinkled, with numerous crystals of calcium oxalate, 

 and occasional circular depressions, conical projections or trans- 

 verse channels; fracture uneven, coarsely fibrous, surface porous 

 and with groups of white sclerenchymatous fibers ; odor slight ; 

 taste acrid. 



Inner Structure. — See Fig. 315. 



Constituents. — The drug contains two amorphous gluco- 

 sides amounting to about 9 per cent., which are closely related to 

 saponin — one soluble in alcohol and known as quillajic acid, and 

 the other nearly insoluble in alcohol and known as quillajasapo- 

 toxin; it also contains starch and about 10 per cent, of calcium 

 oxalate. 



Substitutes. — A spurious Quillaja is being offered at the 

 present time. The bark yields less saponin, is more brittle than 

 the official bark and is covered with a thin, brownish layer. 



QUERCUS.— WHITE OAK BARK.— The bark of Quercus 

 alba (Fam. Cupuliferse) , a tree indigenous to the Eastern and 

 Central United States and Canada. The bark is collected in spring 

 from the branches and trunks of trees from ten to twenty-five 

 years of age, and deprived of the periderm and dried (Fig. 135). 



Description. — In flat, irregular, more or less oblong pieces 

 5 to 30 cm. long, 10 to 20 mm. in diameter, 2 to 4 mm. thick ; outer 

 surface light brown, longitudinally striate, with occasional patches 



