SAESAPAEILLA. 



615 



Imports, Consumption, 

 lbs. lbs. 



1826 102,624 32,936 



1831 140,395 40,124 



1836 122,142 44,468 



1841 95,701 67,877 



1846 427,694 — 



1847 305,736 — 



1848 116,005 — 



1849 94,914 — 



The rhubarb broug;bt into Siberia grows wild in Chinese Tar- 

 tary, especially in the province Gransun, on hills, heaths, and 

 meadows, and is generally gathered in summer from plants of six 

 years of age. "NV^hen the root is dug up, it is washed to free it 

 from earthy particles ; peeled, bored through the centre, strung 

 on a thread, and dried in the sun. In autumn all the dried rhu- 

 barb collected in the province is brought in horsehair sacks, con- 

 taining about 200 lbs., to Smin (the residence of the dealers), 

 loaded on camels, and sent over Mongolia to Kiachta, and the ports 

 and capital of China. 



Saesapaeilla. — -The root of various species of Smilax consti- 

 tutes the sarsaparilla of the shops. It is an evergreen climbing 

 undershrub, having whitish green flowers, . and grows readily 

 from suckers. It is a native of the temperate and tropical regions 

 of Asia and America, The officinal part is the bark, which comes 

 ofi" from the rhizomes. They are mucilaginous, bitter, and slightly 

 acid. Sarsaparilla is used in decoction and infusion as a tonic and 

 alterative. The following are enumerated as sources whence sar- 

 saparilla of various kinds is derived. 



Smilax China and sagittcEfoUa, yielding the Chinese root, are 

 said to come from the province of Onansi in China. 



S. pseudo Clii'na, S. Sarsaparilla, S. rulens, and S. Watsoni, 

 furnish the drug of Xorth America. 



The sarsaparilla distinguished in commerce as the Lisbon or 

 Brazilian is the root of S. papyracea of Poiret. It is an under- 

 shrub, the stem of which is compressed and angular below, and 

 armed with prickles at the angles. The leaves are elliptic, acu- 

 minate, and marked with three longitudinal nerves. This species 

 grows principally in the regions bordering the river Amazon, 

 and on the banks of most of its tributary streams. It is generally 

 brought from the provinces of Para and Maranham. It is in 

 large cylindrical bundles, long and straight, and the flexible stem 

 of the plant is bound round the bundles, so as to entirely cover 

 them. Its fibres are very long, cylindrical, wrinkled longitudinally, 

 and furnished with some lateral fibrils. Its color is of a fawn 

 brown, or sometimes of a dark grey, approaching to black. The 

 color internally is nearly white. Besides this species there are 

 others indigenous, such as S. officinalis, which grows in the 

 province of Mina ; S. sypliilitica, which grows in the northern 

 regions, and three new species, S. japicanga, S. Brasiliensis, and S. 



