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leaf in different individuals, are imperfectly known to botanists, only two species having been identified with certainty. These are Smilax officinalis and S. medica, which yield respectively the so-called " See also:

JAMAICA

Jamaica " and the Mexican varieties. They are large perennial climbers growing from See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short thick underground stems, from which rise numerous semi-woody flexuous angular stems, bearing large alternate stalked long-persistent and prominently See also:

net-veined leaves, from the See also:

BASE

base of which See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring the tendrils which support the plant. The genus is a member of the natural See also:

order Smiliaceae, and constitutes the tribe Smilacoidide, characterized by its climbing See also:

HABIT (through the French from Lat. habitus, from habere, to have, hold, or, in a reflective sense, to be in a certain condition; in many of the English senses the French use habitude, not habit)

habit, net-veined leaves and dioecious See also:

FLOWERS, ARTIFICIAL

flowers. The introduction of sarsaparilla into See also:

EUROPEAN

European See also:

MEDICINE

medicine See also:

DATES

dates from the See also:

MIDDLE

middle of the 16th See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century. Monardes, a physician of See also:

Seville, records that it was brought to that See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city from New See also:

Spain about 1536-1545. Sarsaparilla must have come into extensive use soon afterwards, for See also:

John See also:

Gerard, about the See also:

close of the century, states that it was imported into See also:

England from Peru in See also:

GREAT

great abundance. When boiled in See also:

WATER

water the See also:

root affords a dark extractive See also:

MATTER

matter, the quantity of See also:

EXTRACT (from Lat. extrahere, to draw out)

extract yielded by the root being used as a criterion of its quality. Boiling See also:

ALCOHOL

alcohol extracts from the root a neutral substance in the form of crystalline prisms, which crystallize in scales from boiling water. This See also:

BODY

body, which is named perillin, is allied to the saponin of quillaia bark, from which it differs in not exciting See also:

SNEEZING (0. Eng. fneosung, from fneosan, to sneeze, cf. Dutch fniezen, allied to the obsolete neeze, and ultimately to be referred to root seen in Gr. irveiv, to breathe; the initial s is due to association with numerous words, such as snort, snuff, snor

sneezing. The presence in the root of See also:

STARCH

starch, See also:

RESIN (through O.Fr. resine, modern reline, from Lat. resina, prcbably Latinized from Greek Pirivrt, resin)

resin and oxalate of See also:

lime is revealed by the use of the See also:

MICROSCOPE (Gr. µucp6s, small, asenreiv, to %view)

microscope.

Sarsaparilla still has a popular reputation as an " alterative," but it has been examined and tested in every manner known to See also:

MODERN

modern medical See also:

SCIENCE (Lat. scientia, from scire; to learn, know)

science, and is profession-ally regarded as " pharmacologically inert and therapeutically useless." The varieties of sarsaparilla met with in See also:

commerce are the following: Jamaica, See also:

LIMA

Lima, See also:

HONDURAS

Honduras, See also:

Guatemala, See also:

GUAYAQUIL, or SANTIAGO DE GUAYAQUIL

Guayaquil and Mexican. Of these the first-named yields the largest amount of extract, viz. from 33 to 44 %; it is the only See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind admitted into the See also:

BRITISH

British See also:

PHARMACOPOEIA (lit. the art of the OapµaK07robbs, or drug-compounder)

pharmacopoeia. On the See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

Continent, especially in See also:

Italy, the varieties having a See also:

white starchy bark, like those of Honduras and Guatemala, are preferred. " Jamaica " sarsaparilla derives its name from the fact that Jamaica was at one See also:

time the See also:

EMPORIUM (a Latin adaptation of the Gr. Eµabpuov, from f)

emporium for sarsaparilla, which was brought thither from Honduras, New Spain and Peru. Sarsaparilla is grown to a small extent in Jamaica, and is occasionally exported thence to the See also:

LONDON

London See also:

MARKET (Lat. mercatus, trade or place of trade)

market in small quantities, but its See also:

orange See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour and starchy bark are so different in See also:

APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance from the thin reddish-See also:

brown bark of the genuine drug, that it does not meet with a ready See also:

sale. The Jamaica sarsaparilla of See also:

trade is collected on the Cordilleras of Chiriqui, in See also:

PANAMA

Panama, where the plant yielding it grows at an See also:

ELEVATION

elevation of 4000 to 8000 ft. The root bark is reddish-brown, thin and shrivelled, and there is an abundance of rootlets, which are technically known by the name of " See also:

beard." Lima sarsaparilla resembles the Jamaica kind, but the roots are of a paler brown colour. In Honduras sarsaparilla the roots are less wrinkled, and the bark is whiter and more starchy, than in the Jamaica kind. It is exported from See also:

BELIZE, or BALIZE

Belize. Guatemala sarsaparilla is very similar to that of Honduras, but has a more decidedorange See also:

hue, and the bark shows a tendency to split off. Guayaquil sarsaparilla is obtained chiefly in the valley of Alausi, on the western See also:

side of the See also:

EQUATORIAL

equatorial See also:

ANDES

Andes. The bark is thick and furrowed, and of a See also:

PALE (through Fr. pal, from Lat. palms, a stake, for paglus, from the stem pag- of pangere, to fix; " pole " is from the same original source)

pale fawn colour internally; the rootlets are few, and the root itself is of larger See also:

DIAMETER (from the Cr. &a, through, µErpov, measure)

diameter than in the other kinds.

Sometimes there is attached to the rootstock a portion of See also:

STEM (O. Eng. staefn, stemn, cf. Du. stain, Ger. Stamm, &c., probably related to " staff ")

stem, which is See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round and not prickly, differing in these respects from that of Smilax officinalis, which is square and prickly. Mexican sarsaparilla has slender, shrivelled roots nearly devoid of rootlets. It is collected on the eastern slope of the Mexican Andes throughout the See also:

YEAR

year, and is the produce of Smilax medica. The collection of sarsaparilla root is a very tedious business; a single root takes an See also:

INDIAN

Indian See also:

HALF

half a See also:

day or sometimes even a day and a half to unearth. The roots extend horizontally in the ground on all sides for about 9 ft., and from these the See also:

earth has to be carefully scraped away and other roots cut through where such come across them. A plant four years old will yield 16 lb of fresh root, and a well-grown one from 32 to 64 lb, but more than half the See also:

WEIGHT

weight is lost in drying. The more slender roots are generally See also:

LEFT

left, and the stem is cut down near to the ground, the See also:

CROWN

crown of the root being covered with leaves and earth. Thus treated, the plant continues to grow, and roots may again be cut from it after the See also:

LAPSE (Lat. lapses, a slip or departure)

lapse of two years, but the yield will be smaller and the roots more slender and less starchy. In some varieties, as the Guayaquil and Mexican, the whole plant, including the rootstock, is pulled up. In several species of Smilax the roots become thickened here and there into large tuberous swellings 4 to 6 in. long, and 1 or 2 in. in thickness. These tubers form a considerable See also:

ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article of trade in See also:

CHINA

China, but are used to a limited extent only on the Continent, under the name of China root, although introduced into See also:

EUROPE

Europe about the same time as sarsaparilla. China root is obtained from S.

China and is a native of See also:

Cochin China, China and See also:

JAPAN

Japan, and extensively imported into See also:

India, also from S. glabra and S. lanceaefolia, natives of India and China, the tubers of which closely resemble those of S. China. A similar root is yielded by S. pseudo-China and S. tamnoides in the See also:

UNITED

United States from New See also:

Jersey southwards; by S. balbisiana, in the See also:

West Indies, and by S. Japicanga and S. syringoides, and S. brasiliensis in See also:

South America. The name of Indian sarsaparilla is given to the roots of Hemidesmus indicus, an Asclepiadaceous plant indigenous to India. These roots are readily distinguished from those of true sarsaparilla by their loose cracked bark and by their odour and See also:

TASTE (from Lat. taxare, to touch sharply; tangere, to touch)

taste, recalling those of melilot.

End of Article: SARSAPARILLA

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