10 
ON  TEXAS  SARSAPARILLA. 
a,  the  epidermis;  b,  the 
outer  cortical  layer  ;  c,  the 
liber,  or  inner  bark;  d,  a 
zone  of  ligneous  fibres, 
which  are  separated  from 
each  other  by  a  medullary 
deposit,  the  dark  spots  are 
the  ducts  which  have  been 
cut  across  ;  e,  the  cellular 
sheath  dividing  the  woody 
zone  from  f,  the  medulla  or 
pith. 
When  the  end  of  the  dried  root  is  bruised,  it  separates  into  a 
brush,  consisting  of  the  ligneous  fibres  of  the  zone  d.  The  ap- 
pearance presented  is  entirely  different  from  the  simple  longitudinal 
splitting  of  the  true  sarsaparilla. 
The  structure  of  this  rhizome  is  evidently  that  of  an  aerial  stem, 
containing  bark,  wood  and  pith  ;  with  medullary  rays  passing  from 
the  pith  to  the  bark. 
An  examination  of  these  figures  affords  us  conclusive  evidence 
of  the  structural  difference  between  the  true  and  false  sarsaparillas, 
and  thus  determines  the  first  point  in  the  inquiry. 
To  resolve  the  second,  or  in  other  words,  to  ascertain,  if  possible, 
from  what  plant  the  Texas  Sarsaparilla  was  derived,  I  examined, 
microscopically,  the  root  of  the  plant  brought  from  Virginia, 
(which  J  judged  to  be  the  Menisperrnum  Canadense  from  the 
nature  of  its  leaf,)  and  found  it  to  correspond  in  every  particular 
with  the  representation  given  in  figure  2. 
The  next  examination  was  of  a  specimen  of  "  yellow  parilla," 
the  name  given  to  the  root  of  the  Menispermum  Canadense  by  the 
Eclectics  ;  and  this,  also,  coincided  in  its  characteristics  with  those 
shown  in  figure  2. 
Lastly,  I  procured  fresh  specimens  of  the  root,  which  upon 
inspection  exhibited  similar  appearances.  In  fact,  I  could  detect 
no  structural  differences  between  the  Texas  Sarsaparilla,  the  Vir- 
ginia Sarsaparilla,  the  "yellow  parilla,"  and  the  fresh  root  of  the 
