Advertising  Sheet  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
February,  [Terms  on  the  Cover.]  1879 
CASCARA  SAGRADO. 
(Khamnus  Purshiana.) 
The  recent  attacks  made  upon  this  drug  by  one  or  two  physicians;  apparently 
acting  in  the  interests  of  competing  houses,  has  made  it  a  subject  of  peculiar 
interest  at  this  time.  We  therefore  append  a  brief  description  and  history  of  the 
remedy. 
CACPJlDjl  OA  AD  Alin  is  tne  sPanisn  name  of  the  bark  of  a  tree  indigenous  to 
UnuvAnA  dAUHAUU  Northern  California  and  Oregon,  known  botanicafiy  as  the 
Rbamnus  Purshiana.  In  some  localities  it  is  called  "  Chittem  "  wood,  on  the  supposition  that  it 
is  identical  with  the  material  used  in  the  construction  of  the  sacred  Ark— hence  the  name  Cas- 
cara Sagrado  (sacred  bark).  The  bark  of  this  tree  has  long  been  used  on  the  Pacific  Coast 
among  the  Indians  and  old  Spanish  residents,  as  a  remedy  for  habitual  constipation,  and  other 
disorders  of  the  alimentary  canal.  Its  reputation  among  the  inhabitants  of  this  section,  and 
the  reports  of  physicians  who  have  used  it,  has  induced  hundreds  of  other  practitioners 
throughout  the  United  States  and  Canada  to  test  the  new  remedy  in  their  practice — the  need  of 
a  reliable  corrective  in  that  most  intractable  of  all  complaints,  habitual  constipatiou,  being  uni- 
versally felt.  The  testimony  of  these  physicians  has,  in  turn,  been  published,  and  has  been  so 
pronounced  in  favor  of  the  new  remedy,  and  the  resulting  demand  for  it  has  been  so  great,  that 
we  have  found  it  very  difficult  to  obtain  sufficient  of  the  drug  to  supply  our  many  orders.  Many 
physicians  write  to  us  that  they  must  have  the  Cascara  at  any  price,  as  it  has  proved  invaluable 
in  their  practice.  One  of  our  firm  has  visited  California  for  the  very  purpose  of  securing  a 
sufficient  quantity  to  supply  the  rapidly  increasing  demand  at  reduced  prices,  but  the  great 
difficulty  of  obtaining  it  has  precluded  any  reduction  in  cost.  After  very  careful  investigation, 
we  found  that  we  had  secured  the  entire  crop  for  1878-9,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  small  ship- 
ments to  other  manufacturing  houses  to  an  amount  not  exceeding  five  hundred  pounds.  A 
f;reat  part  of  this  was  of  very  poor  quality,  and  had  been  previously  rejected  by  us  as  unfit 
or  use. 
THERAPEUTICAL  APPLICATIONS. 
Carefully  conducted  experiments  have  demonstrated  that  no  small  share  of  its  physiological 
action  is  on  the  liver,  and  that,  in  addition  to  its  tonic  properties,  it  is  an  efficient  cholagogue. 
The  properly  selected  drug  contains  an  alkaloid, the  exact  nature  of  which  has,  however,  not  yet 
been  aetermined,  which  resembles  strychnia  in  many  of  its  properties.  It  is  to  this  principle 
that  we  attribute  the  remarkable  tonic  action  of  the  drug  on  the  muscular  coats  of  the  aliment- 
ary tract.  Unlike  most  laxatives,  Cascara  causes  very  little  peristaltic  action  of  the  intestines, 
and  hence  its  administration  is  followed  by  the  minimum  of  griping  or  pain,  a  great  desideratum 
in  practice.  These  properties  will  suggest  t:>  the  intelligent  physician  a  wide  field  for  the 
application  of  the  drug,  and  experience  has  already  demonstrated  its  value  in  all  affections  in 
which  atony  of  the  stomach  and  bowels  has  been  a  leading  condition. 
CAUTION  TO  PHYSICIANS. 
Until  very  recently,  the  agents  of  certain  manufacturing  houses  in  Cincinnati  and  New  York 
have  been  representing  falsely  to  physicians  that  our  fluid  extract  Cascara  was  a  compound  of 
Buckthorn  Bark  (Rhanms  Frangula)  and  Strychnia,  and  that  no  such  plant  as  Cascara  Sagrado 
was  known.  These  statements,  caused  by  jealousy  at  the  results  of  our  energy,  and  designed 
solely  to  injure  the  sale  of  this  drug  during  the  present  season,  or  until  a  new  crop  could  be 
gathered,  were  not  made  openly  in  print,  in  such  ioim  that  we  could  seek  protection  of  the  law, 
but  were  conveyed  covertly  by  word  of  mouth  to  physicians,  whom  we  would  hesitate  to  drag 
into  court  as  witnesses.  The  malicious  intention  of  these  parties  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  they 
are  now  themselves  freely  offering  what  purports  to  be  a  fluid  extract  Cascara  Sagrado  at  reduced 
rates,  and  we  are  informed  that  preparations  containing  Buckthorn  Bark  and  Stryehna  have 
actually  been  sold  under  the  name  of  Fluid  Extract  of  Cascara  Sagrado  by  certain  unscrupulous 
parties. 
Thi3  practice  of  compounding  imitations  of  preparations  of  new  drugs  cannot  be  censured  too 
severely.  If  it  accomplished  only  the  end  in  view  of  depriving  us  of  the  profit  resulting  from 
the  sale  of  an  article  which  we  have  introduced  to  the  profession  by  a  large  outlay  of  time  and 
money,  we  should  be  the  last  to  complain  ;  but  far  more  important  than  any  private  injury  is  the 
fact  that  these  poisonous  mixtures,  prescribed  by  unsuspecting  physicians,  may  cause  irrepara- 
ble mischief  and  weaken  faith  in  a  most  valuable  agent.  We  urge  physicians  to  examine  most 
carefully  the  preparations  offered  to  them  under  this  name,  and  to  reject  any  which  do  not 
come  from  sources  above  suspicion.   Cheap  preparations  especially  should  be  avoided. 
Our  own  supply  of  the  crude  drug  has  been  carefully  selected,  and  is  known  to  be  genuine. 
We  invite  physicians  to  specify  our  brand  when  ordering,  and  see  that  our  label  and  capsule 
nppears  on  each  bottle. 
PARKE,  DAVIS  &  CO.,  DETROIT. 
Send  for  Descriptive  Circulars.     For  sale  by  all  Wholesale  Druggists, 
