ON  TEXAS  SAKSAPARILLA. 
9 
The  first  point  in  the  inquiry  about  to  be  instituted,  is  to  deter- 
mine that  the  Texas  is  not  a  true  sarsaparilla  ;  and  the  second,  to 
ascertain  its  identity  with  the  common  moon  seed,  or  Menispermum 
Canadense. 
To  resolve  the  first  question,,  we  must  examine  the  structure  of 
the  true  sarsaparilla,  (smilax,)  and  learn  what  are  its  component 
The  accompanying 
wood-cut,  (Fig.  1,)  is  a 
highly  magnified  repre- 
sentation of  the  appear- 
ance presented  by  a  trans- 
verse section  of  Para 
sarsaparilla.  It  exhi- 
bits a  very  close  resem- 
blance to  the  diagrams 
of  Honduras  and  Jamaica 
sarsaparillas  given  in 
Pereira's  Materia  Med- 
ica;  thereby  showing 
that  neither  differences 
in  the  mere  species  of  plants,  nor  yet  in  the  character  of  the  soil 
and  climate  where  they  are  produced,  effect  any  very  decided 
changes  in  their  internal  structure. 
At  a  is  seen  the  thin  epidermis,  covering  b  the  outer  cortical 
layer;  c  is  the  inner  cortical  or  starchy  layer;  d  is  the  cellular 
sheath  dividing  the  cortical  from  the  woody  layer  e,  in  which  the 
cut  orifices  of  numerous  ducts  and  fibres  are  observed  ;  f  the  centra! 
pith. 
In  this,  as  in  the  false  sarsaparilla  represented  below,  the  four 
divisions  of  bark,  cortical  layer,  ligneous  fibres  and  pith  are  seen. 
But  nothing  like  a  medullary  ray  (or  the  silver-grain,  as  it  is 
usually  termed  in  the  steins  of  plants,)  is  to  be  observed.  Owing 
to  the  presence  of  the  ligneous  fibres,  represented  in  section  in  the 
woody  zone  e,  the  true  sarsaparilla  readily  splits  in  the  longitudinal 
direction. 
Figure  2  presents  a  cross  section  of  the  Texas  Sarsaparilla 
which  differs  in  its  whole  structure  from  the  genuine. 
parts,  and  how  they  are  arranged. 
Fig.  1. 
