ROOTS AND RHIZOMES. 
129 
which is obtained from plants cultivated in Jamaica. 
The Honduras and Mexican varieties are chiefly used 
in this country, although Para Sarsaparilla has been 
employed to a certain extent for years. 
Description. — Honduras Sarsaparilla. — In bundles 
about 1 m. in length and from 8 to 15 cm. in diame- 
ter, consisting of the long-folded roots and rhizomes, 
bound together by roots of the same plant or stems of 
some other plant, the ends of the bundles trimmed in 
some cases by cutting; roots about 2 m. long and 
uniformly about 2 to 6 mm. in diameter; externally 
dark or reddish brown, longitudinally furrowed, mi- 
nutely hairy and having slender rootlets, the furrows 
usually free from soil; fracture fibrous; internally 
consisting of a white pith, a light-yellow porous cen- 
tral cylinder and a grayish white or dark-brown cor- 
tex, the latter being lighter and more starchy near the 
growing end, and darker (more resinous) near the 
union with the rhizome; odor slight; taste slightly acrid. 
The cells of the endodermis and hypodermis are 
oblong in transveise section and nearly uniformly 
thickened. 
Mexican Sarsaparilla. — In bundles, with the roots 
more or less free; the latter grayish brown, somewhat 
shrunken, the furrows containing larger or smaller 
amounts of soil. The outer walls of the cells of the 
hypodermis and the inner walls of the cells of the 
endodermis are considerably thickened. 
Para Sarsaparilla. — Closely resembling the Honduras 
Sarsaparilla. 
Constituents. — Sarsaparilla contains three gluco- 
sidal principles — parillin, saponin and sarsosaponin, of 
which the latter is the most active; it also contains 
calcium oxalate, volatile oil, resin, and, except in the 
Jamaica variety, starch in considerable amount. 
