204    "osha"  and  "yerba  mansa  "  of  new  Mexico. 
Note  by  the  Editor. — The  root  called  "osha  "  is  in  pieces 
of  various  sizes,  from  a  line  to  an  inch  in  thickness,  and  from  two 
to  twelve  inches  long,  covered,  except  where  broken,  by  a  dark 
brown  epidermis,  enclosing  a  whitish  Or  yellowish-white  fibrous 
interior  structure.  The  large  roots  consist  of  the  caudex,  with 
the  projecting  bases  of  the  annual  stalks  about  half  an  inch  in 
diameter,  with  the  remains  of  the  stem  fibres.  In  the  best 
preserved  specimen  the  tap  root  is  about  a  foot  long,  with  nu- 
merous lateral  roots  emanating  from  various  portions  of  the  main 
root,  and  varying  in  size,  in  this  respect  much  like  parsley  root. 
At  the  top  of  the  root,  especially  about  the  bases  of  the  stalks, 
hair-like  fibres  are  numerously  attached.  The  roots  are  all  more 
or  less  crushed,  as  though  twisted,  by  which  the  epidermis  is 
broken,  and  the  interior  fibrous  structure  exposed.  The  taste  of 
the  root  is  aromatic  and  acrid  when  chewed,  like  calamus,  though 
different  in  flavor.  When  examined  closely  with  a  lens  the  root 
has  a  greasy,  oily  aspect,  and  by  mere  handling  communicates 
its  odor,  which  is  quite  persistent,  and  not  disagreeable,  remind- 
ing one  of  Angelica,  and  due  to  a  large  proportion  of  volatile 
oil.  This  was  determined  by  placing  100  grains  of -the  root,  re- 
duced to  coarse  powder,  in  a  pint  flask  with  four  ounces  of  water, 
adapting  a  glass  Liebig's  condensing  tube  to  the  flask,  and  dis- 
tilling one-half ;  a  milky  distillate  was  obtained,  upon  which 
numerous  globules  of  a  nearly  colorless,  strongly  odorous,  vola- 
tile oil  floated.  This  oil  has  an  aromatic,  pungent  taste.  Sul- 
phuric acid  destroys  it,  producing  a  red  substance  with  an  odor 
like  wormseed ;  it  is  readily  soluble  in  alcohol  and  ether.  The 
only  specimen  of  oil  of  Angelica  I  had,  with  which  to  compare 
it,  was  too  old  and  altered  to  afford  a  comparison  ;  what  evidence 
it  yielded  was  not  in  opposition  to  their  close  analogy. 
Ether  percolated  through  the  powdered  root  and  evaporated, 
yielded  a  brown  fluid  consisting  almost  wholly  of  violatile  and 
fixed  oil  amounting  to  30  per  cent,  of  the  root. 
Yerba  mansa  root  consists  of  a  rough  cylindrical  rhizome  or 
caudex,  about  an  inch  long,  and  three  to  six  lines  thick,  from 
which  issue  a  number  of  spongy,  cylindrical,  almost  fibrous 
roots,  very  brittle,  and  of  a  fawn  color.  Its  odor  in  quantity  is 
rather  aromatic,  its  taste  pungent  and  biting,  but  not  very  much 
