Some of the species of this genus furnish 

 the drug known as Sarsapanlla, so called 

 from the Spanish sarza ' a bramble,' and 

 ■par ilia ' a vine,' in allusion to the thorny 

 stems of the plants. The Sarsaparilla of 

 the shops consists of the roots, to which 

 are attached portions of the rootstocks, of 

 various species of this genus. It is by no 

 means ciearly ascertained what are the 

 exact species yielding the varieties of this 

 drug met with in commerce. That im- 

 ported from Columbia and Guatemala is 

 supposed to be the produce of S. officinalis. 

 Mexican Sarsaparilla is yielded by S.medica, 



Smilax mc-dica. 



Brazilian or Rio Negro Sarsaparilla is fur- 

 nished by S. papyracea. Other species are 

 mentioned as occasionally used, but much 

 doubt prevails on this subject. The spe- 

 cies named S. Sarsaparilla, which is com- 

 mon in the United States, does not appear 

 to be used medicinally, notwithstanding its 

 name. 



In commerce the various kinds of Sar- 

 saparilla are divided into two principal 

 groups, according to thequantity of starchy 

 material they contain. The mealy Sarsa- 

 parillas contain an abundance of farina- 

 ceous matter in the inner part of the rind. 

 To this group belong Caraccas Sarsaparilla, 

 the produce probably of S. officinalis or S. 

 syphilitica; Brazilian Sarsaparilla, which is 

 imported in cylindrical bundles, and is 

 considered to consist of the roots of 8. 

 papyracea and S. officinalis; and Honduras 

 Sarsaparilla, the botanical origin of which 

 is not known. The non-mealy Sarsaparillas 

 are known as Jamaica or Red-bearded Sar- 

 saparilla, which is imported into Jamaica 

 from Columbia, and is probably the pro- 

 duce of S. officinalis ; what is known as 

 Lima Sarsaparilla, which belongs to this 

 division, consists of roots, imported not 

 only from Lima, but also from Costa Rica. 

 S. officinalis is supposed likewise to be the 

 source whence ihese kinds are derived; 

 Vera Cruz Sarsaparilla is the produce of 

 S. medica. 



Of these several kinds, the Jamaica and 

 Lima sorts are most esteemed ; the more 

 acrid the taste, the higher the value set on 



the drug. The immediate effects of Sar- 

 saparilla are those of a diaphoretic; in 

 large doses it creates nausea and vomiting. 

 Its more remote effects appear to be those 

 of atonic; it is considered a valuable re- 

 medy in those weakened and depraved 

 conditions ascribed to a poisoned state of 

 the blood— hence it is administered in old 

 syphilitic cases, in chronic rheumatism, j 

 and in certain skin-diseases. Practitioners, 

 however, differ in opinion as to the value 

 of the drug, as much as botanists do as to 

 the proper species to be employed. Much 

 of this uncertainty no doubt depends upon 

 the employment of an inert kind. 



Pereira, from whose work on Materia 

 Medica these remarks have been condensed, 

 also alludes to the China root, the produce 

 of S. China, which was first introduced from 

 China in a.d.1535 as an infallible remedy for 

 gout. It has shared the fate of many so- 

 called infallible remedies, and has fallen 

 into disuse. S. aspera, a native of the 

 South of France, Italy, &c, yields Italian 

 Sarsaparilla, which has the same properties 

 as the American kinds. S. ovahfolia is used 

 medicinally in India, as are also the large 

 tuberous rootstocks of 8. lancecefolia. Aus- 

 tralia also supplies a medicinal species, S. 

 glyciphylla ; of this species the leaves also 

 are used as tea. 8. Macabucha is employed 

 in the Philippines in dysentery and other 

 complaints. 8. anceps is employed medi- 

 cinally in the Mauritius. The fact that so 

 many species' are employed medicinally, in 

 so many quarters of the globe, is strong 

 evidence of their value. 



Other species furnish articles of food: 

 such are 8. China, the rootstocks of which 

 ! are eaten by the Chinese. The rootstocks 

 ' of S. Pseudo-China are manufactured into 

 a kind of beer in South Carolina; they are 

 also used to fatten hogs. The young shoots 

 of some of the species are employed as 

 j asparagus in Persia, &c. The rootstocks 

 ! of 8. ■China yield a yellow dye with alum, 

 a brown one with sulphate of iron. The 

 pliant stems of 8. Pseudo-China and other 

 I species are employed for the manufacture 

 of baskets, &c. Several of the species are 

 in cultivation, more as objects of botanical 

 interest than for any beauty. The name 

 Smilax was employed by the Greeks to 

 designate some poisonous tree; others de- 

 rive the name from smile, a cutting or 

 scratching implement, in allusion to the 

 rough prickles on the stem. [M. T. M.] 



SMITHIA. A genus of Leguminosce of 

 the suborder Papilionacea;, consisting of 

 herbs or undershrubs from tropical Asia 

 and Africa, with pinnate leaves, small 

 leaflets, and yellow purple or blue flowers 

 in axillary racemes. The genus is exceed- 

 ingly well defined by its deeply two-cleft 

 striate calyx, by the stamens united in two 

 parcels, and by the jointed pod folded back 

 into the calyx as in Uraria and Lourea. It 

 consists of about eighteen species, some 

 of them handsome, but chiefly to be reck- 

 oned among tropical weeds. Some are 

 said to have sensitive leaves. 



SMOKE-PLANT. Elms Cotinus. 



