646 



DRUCrS, JfABCOTTCS, ETC. 



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

 ILerreria sarsapariUa, belonging to the same natural order, which 

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

 of which receive the name of wild sarsapariUa. 



Prom Mexico, Honduras, and Angostura very good qualities are 

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

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

 the oiiicinal drug in Europe. 



Smilax officinalis, found in woods near the Eio Magdalena in 

 New Grranada, 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 143,000 lbs. In i844, 184,748 

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



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

 — Brazil, Is. 3d. per lb. ; Honduras, Is. 3d. to Is. 8d. per lb. ; 

 Yera Cruz, 6d. to lid. per lb. ; Jamaica, Is. 8d. to 3s. 4d. per lb. 

 The duty received on sarsapariUa in 1842 was £1,536. 



The average annual quantity of sarsapariUa obtained from 

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

 home consumption, in the twelve years ending with 1843 was 

 37,826 lbs. 



IMPORTS OF BRAZILIAN 8ARSAPARILLA. 



1827 28,155 



1828 



1829 



1830 



1831 



1832 



1833 



1834 



lbs. 





28,155 



1835 



49,280 



1836 



52,772 



1837 



19,842 



1838 



31,972 



1839 



91,238 



1840 



13,077 



1841 



28,803 



1842 



lbs. 



22,387 

 1,718 

 12,842 



9,484 

 4,141 

 1,399 

 5,572 



The total imports in 18 i9 were 118,934 lbs. 



SarsapariUa 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 caUed Marsh Harbor, 

 which was found to be of a superior quaUty. 



Some thousands of pounds of sarsapariUa 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 sarsapariUa, that is so much valued in the 



