SASSAFRAS (U. S. P.)—SASSAFRAS. History and Description

Sassafras is a well known tree common to the woods of North America, from Canada to Florida, and flowering in the latter part of April or early in May. The odor of the flowers is slightly fragrant, and they, together with the leaves and young branches, are used in decoction, in many parts of the country as a spring medicine to cleanse the blood. Sassafras was one of the chief remedies used by the American Indians, and the wood became known in Europe under the name Lignum pavanum, or Lignum Floridum, about the year 1582. (For a detailed account of the history of sassafras, see Dr. Frederick Hoffmann, in Die Ætherischen Oele, p. 514; J. U. Lloyd, Amer. Druggist, 1898, pp. 258 and 295; and Wm. Procter, Jr., Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1866, pp. 481–492.) The root, bark, and the pith are the medicinal parts now in use, but the bark of the root is generally employed in this country; it is by far the most active part of the whole tree. Its virtues are due to a yellow essential oil, which may be obtained by distilling the wood with water (see Oleum Sassafras). Hot water, in infusion, or alcohol, takes up the active principles of the bark, but boiling dissipates them. The whole root of sassafras is official in the British Pharmacopœia, but only the root-bark and pith are official in this country.