Advertising  Sheet  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
March,  [Terms  on  the  Cover.]    ,  1879. 
CASCARA  SAGRADA. 
(RHAMNUS  PURSHIANA.) 
fi^The  Charges  Against  it  Withdrawn  ! 
A  statement  appeared  in  the  editorial  columns  of  the  Pacific  Medicdl  and  Surgical  Journal  some 
time  since,  commenting  unfavorably  on  the  therapeutic  value  of  certain  new  remedies  recently 
introduced  to  the  profession  through  us,  and  particularly  on  Cascara  Sagrada,  which  it  also 
intimated  was  presented  under  a  fictitious  name.  These  statements,  harmless  enough 
in  themselves,  have  been  widely  circulated  by  parties  inimical  to  uh,  and  special  refer- 
ence has  been  made  to  the  assumed  fictitious  name,  with  the  intention  of  conveying  to  the  minds 
of  the  profession  throughout  the  country,  that  we  have  been  guilty  of  deliberate  fiaud  by 
inducing  physicians  to  use  secret  remedies  which  had  no  remedial  value  and  whose  names 
originated  with  us.  It  is,  therefore,  with  peculiar  pleasure  that  we  have  noticed  in  the  January 
number  of  the  publication  referred  to,  the  following  note  on  Cascara  Sagrada.  It  will  be 
observed  that  Dr.  Gibbons  expressly  states  that  it  was  not  intended  to  deny  medicinal  virtue  to 
the  plants  in  question,  and  further  that  Cascara  Sagrada  is  the  common  Spanish  name  of  Rhamus 
Purshiana,  thus  effectually  disposing  of  the  matter. 
(From  Pacific  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  Dr.  Henry  Gibbons,  Ed.   Jan.,  1879.) 
tk CASCARA  SAGRADA"  AGAIN. 
We  noti  e  that  the  article  published  in  our  October  number  from  the  pen  of  Dr.  W.  P.  Gib- 
bons, referring  to  certain  "new  remedies,"  so  called,  of  California  origin,  has  been  misinter- 
preted in  some  quarters  as  denying  medicinal  virtue  to  the  plants  in  question.  This  was  not  its 
design,  nor  did  the  therapeutic  value  of  the  remedies  enter  into  consideration.  The  object  was 
to  expose  the  deception  of  introducing  preparations  of  old  remedies  under  new  names,  and 
claiming  originality  without  deserving  it.   Several  of  the  plants  in  question  are  really  Vbluable. 
Whilst  on  the  Fubject,  we  will  correct  an  error  in  spelling.  Cascara  (bark)  Sagrada  (sacred) 
is  the  common  Spanish  name  of  the  Rhamnus  Purshiana,  and  means  simply  sacred  bark.  The 
adjective  should  end  in  a,  and  not  in  o,  as  it  is  commonly  spelled.  The  old  Spanish  or  Mexican 
population  of  the  coast  had  a  number  of  medicinal  herbs  which  they  employed  in  default  of 
officinal  plants  Not  knowing  the  botanical  names,  common  names  were  given,  indicating  their 
supposed  good  qualities.   "  Yerba  Santa  "  was  holy  herb;  "  Yerba  Buena,"  good  herb,  and  so  on 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  while  its  remedial  value  is  taken  for  granted,  the  fact  is  also  admitted 
that  Cascara  Sagrada  is  the  common  name  of  the  Rhamnus  Purshiana,  and  as  such  was  prop- 
erly introduced  to  the  profession.  The  testimony  regarding  the  efficacy  of  Cascara  Sagrada 
increases  every  day,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  fully  as  valuable  as  the  first  reports 
indicated. 
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. 
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  to  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  (Rhamus  Frangula)  and  Strychnia,  and  that  no  such  plant  as  Cascara  Sagrado 
was  known.  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  Caecara  Sagrado  at  reduced 
rates,  and  we  are  informed  that  preparations  containing  Buckthorn  Bark  and  Strychna  have 
actually  been  sold  under  the  name  of  Fluid  Extract  of  Cascara  Sagtado  by  certain  unscrupulous 
parties.    Cheap  preparations  should,  therefore,  be  regarded  with  ^uspieion. 
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 
appears  on  each  bottle. 
OS^-Send  for  circulars  giving  all  the  facts  regarding  Cascara  Sagrada,  and  editorial  comments  from 
different  medical  journals. 
PARKE,  DAVIS  cfc  OO. 
DETROIT,  MICH. 
For  Sale  in  Philadelphia  fcy  W.  D.  Elliot  &  Co, ;  in  New  York  by  Lehn  &  Fink ;  in 
Baltimore  oy  W.  H.  Rrown  &  Co. 
