The mealy sarsaparillas are distinguished by “the mealy character of the inner cortical layers, which are white or pale-coloured. The meal or starch is sometimes so abundant, that
a shower of it, in the form of white dust, falls when we fracture the roots.” The medulla or pith is also frequently very amylaceous.
The non-mealy sarsaparillas “are characterised by a deeply coloured (red or brown), usually non-mealy, cortex. The cortex is red, and much thinner than in the mealy sorts.” “If a drop of oil of vitriol be applied to a transverse section of the root of the non-mealy sarsaparillas, both cortex and wood acquire a dark-red or purplish tint;” whilst in the preceding varieties, the mealy coat, and, sometimes, the pith, is but little altered in colour. “The decoction of non-mealy sarsaparilla, when cold, is somewhat darkened, but does not yield a blue colour when a solution of iodine is added to it.” The aqueous extract, when rubbed down with a little cold distilled water in a mortar, does not yield a turbid liquid, nor become blue on the addition of iodine. The reverse is the case with the decoction and extract of the mealy varieties.
The Jamaica, Red Jamaica, or Red-bearded sarsaparilla (Sarza Jamaicensis—Ph. D.), is the variety which should alone be used in medicine. This kind yields from 33 to 44% of its weight of extract (Battley, Hennell, Pope), and contains less starchy matter than the other varieties. It is distinguished by exhibiting the above peculiarities in a marked degree, by the dirty reddish colour of its bark, which “is not mealy,” and by being “beset very plentifully with rootlets” (fibres).—Ph. L. Its powder has also a pale reddish-brown colour. The other varieties of sarsaparilla, viz. the Lisbon, Lima, Vera Cruz, and Honduras, are frequently substituted for the Jamaica by the druggists in the preparations of the decoctions and extracts of this drug; but the products are vastly inferior in quantity, colour, taste, and medicinal virtue, to those prepared from the officinal sarsaparilla. Decoction of sarsaparilla, when made with the Honduras root, is very liable to ferment, even by a few hours’ exposure, in hot weather. We have seen hogsheads of the strong decoction, after exposure for a single night, in as active a state of fermentation as a gyle of beer, with a frothy head, and evolving a most disagreeable odour, that was not wholly removed by several hours’ boiling. When this occurs the decoction suffers in density, and the product in extract is, consequently, considerably lessened. Yet this is frequently allowed to occur in the wholesale laboratory, where the rule should be—always begin a ‘bath of sarza’ (as it is called), and, indeed, of other perishable articles, early in the morning, and finish it, completely and entirely, the same day.
Sarsaparilla has been recommended as a mild but efficacious alterative, diaphoretic and tonic. It has long been a popular remedy in chronic rheumatism, rheumatic and gouty pains, scurvy, scrofula, syphilis, secondary syphilis, lepra, psoriasis, and several other skin
diseases; and, especially, in cachexia, or a general bad habit of body, and to remove the symptoms arising from the injudicious use of mercurials, often falsely called ‘secondary syphilis.’ During its use the skin should be kept warm, and diluents should be freely taken. Its efficacy has been greatly exaggerated. It is, however, much more effective in warm than in northern climates.—Dose. In substance, 1⁄2 to 1 dr., three or four times daily; but, preferably, made into a decoction or infusion.
The articles so much puffed under the names of American or United States sarsaparilla and extract of sarsaparilla are “nothing more than the decoction of a common herb, a sort of ‘aralia,’ inhabiting the swamps and marshes of the United States. When cut up it has the appearance of chaff, but not the slightest resemblance in character, colour, or taste, to even the most inferior species of smilax (or sarza). The decoction is sweetened with a little sugar, flavoured with benzoin and sassafras, and, finally, preserved from decomposition by means of the bichloride of mercury.” “I have heard of several cases of deadly sickness, and other dangerous symptoms, following its use.” “We do not believe that a particle of real sarsaparilla ever entered into the composition of either of the articles referred to.” (‘Med. Circ.,’ ii, 227.) See Decoction and Extract.
SARSAPARIL′LIN. Syn. Pariglin, Parillic acid, Salsaparin, Smilacin. A white, crystallisable, odourless, and nearly tasteless substance, discovered by Pallotta and Folchi, in sarsaparilla.
Prep. The bark of Jamaica sarsaparilla is treated with hot rectified spirit, and the resulting tincture reduced to about one third by distilling off the spirit; the residual liquid is then filtered, whilst boiling, slightly concentrated by evaporation, and set aside to crystallise; the crystalline deposit is redissolved in either hot rectified spirit or boiling water, and decoloured by agitation with a little animal charcoal; the filtrate deposits crystals of nearly pure smilacin as it cools. It may also be extracted by boiling water.
Prop., &c. A non-nitrogenised neutral body. Water holding a very small quantity of it in solution froths considerably on agitation. This is especially the case with infusion of Jamaica sarsaparilla, and this property has consequently been proposed as a test of the quality of sarsaparilla root. Its medicinal properties are similar to those of sarsaparilla. According to Pallotta, it is a powerful sedative, and diminishes the vital energies in proportion to the quantity taken.—Dose, 2 to 10 gr.; in the usual cases in which the root is given.