Smilax officinalis, found in woods near the Rio Magdalena in New Granada, furnishes the best in the market, which is commonly known as Jamaica Sarza. It differs from the other kinds in having a deep red cuticle of a close texture, and the color is more generally diffused through the ligneous part. It is shipped in bales, formed either of the spirally formed roots, as in the Jamaica and Lima varieties, or of unfolded parallel roots, as in the Brazilian varieties. The roots are usually several feet long, about the thickness of a quill, more or less wrinkled, and the whole quantity retained for home consumption, in 1840, was 143,000 lbs. In 1844, 184,748 lbs., and in 1845 111,775 lbs. were shipped from Honduras.
The prices in the London market, at the close of 1853, were —Brazil, 1s. 3d. per lb.; Honduras, 1s. 3d. to 1s. 8d. per lb.; Vera Cruz, 6d. to 11d. per lb.; Jamaica, 1s. 8d. to 3s. 4d. per lb. The duty received on sarsaparilla in 1842 was £1,536.
The average annual quantity of sarsaparilla obtained from Mexico and South America, exclusive of Brazil, and taken for home consumption, in the twelve years ending with 1843 was 37,826 lbs.
IMPORTS OF BRAZILIAN SARSAPARILLA.
| lbs. | |
| 1827 | 28,155 |
| 1828 | 49,280 |
| 1829 | 52,772 |
| 1830 | 19,842 |
| 1831 | 31,972 |
| 1832 | 91,238 |
| 1833 | 13,077 |
| 1834 | 28,803 |
| 1835 | 22,387 |
| 1836 | 1,718 |
| 1837 | 12,842 |
| 1838 | — |
| 1839 | 9,484 |
| 1840 | 4,141 |
| 1841 | 1,399 |
| 1842 | 5,572 |
The total imports in 1849 were 118,934 lbs.
Sarsaparilla has been found growing in the Port Phillip district of Australia, and has been shipped thence in small quantities. It seems to be indigenous to the Bahamas, and is to be found on many of the out islands. Mr. Wm. Dalzell, of Abaco, collected some considerable quantity at a place called Marsh Harbor, which was found to be of a superior quality.
Some thousands of pounds of sarsaparilla were brought to Falmouth, Jamaica, last year, and bought by merchants for export. It came from the parish of St. Elizabeth, and there are whole forests covered with this weed, for such in reality it is. It is too the real black Jamaica sarsaparilla, that is so much valued in the European and American markets. It is also found in other parts of the island.
In 1798 3,674 lbs. of sarsaparilla were shipped from La Guayra; 2,394 lbs. in 1801 from Puerto Cabella, and 400 quintals from Costa Rica, in 1845, valued at eight dollars a quintal.
SENNA.—Several varieties of Cassia, natives of the East, are grown for the production of this drug. The dried leaves of C. lanceolata or orientalis, grown in Egypt, Syria, and Arabia, the true Mecca senna, are considered the best. In Egypt the leaves of Cynanchum Arghel are used for adulterating senna, Cassia obovata or C. senna, also a native of Egypt, cultivated in the East Indies, as well as in Spain, Italy, and Jamaica. It is a perennial herb, one or two feet high. In the East Indies there is a variety (C. elongata) common about Tinnivelly, Coimbatore, Bombay, and Agra, &c. Several of this species are common in the West India islands. The plants, which are for the most part evergreens, grow from two to fifteen feet high; they delight in a loamy soil, or mixture of loam or peat.