PHARMACOPCEIAL VEGETABLE DRUGS.

the fragrant sandalwood of Timor and the inodorous red sandalwood.In this connection it should be remembered that Santalum rubrum, orred sanders, has none of the qualities of the Santalum album, or fra-grant sandalwood. And yet it is recorded that all the languages ofIndia call it by the name red-colored sandalwood. In the Midclle agesit was used in Europe for coloring purposes, being quoted in England,1326 and 1399, at three Shillings per pound, and it was entered onthe accounts of the Monastery of Durham, 1530, along with spicesand groceries. It is used in pharmacy as a coloring agent, after themanner in which it was employed in domestic economy of the oldentimes for the same purpose.

SANTONICA

The "wormseeds" are widely distributed in the northern hemi-sphere of the Old World, many varieties thereof being familiär to bot-anists and subject to much discussion. The unopened flowers of thehead (wormseed) are collected in quantities on the vast plains orsteppes in the northern part of Turkestan, the distributing point beingthe renowned fair of Nishni Novgorod, Russia, where, July I5th toAugust 27th, the celebrated exchanges of the products occur. Worm-seed, however, is found in the Oriental bazaars, being brought fornative and domestic use from the sections of country named, or fromAfghanistan or Caboul. Dioscorides (194) mentions several speciesof wormseed, stating that the small seeds were mixed with honey andemployed by the people as a remedy for ascarides. Alexander Tralli-anus (11), in the sixth Century, commended this drug as a remedyfor intestinal worms. Saladinus (570), 1450, and afterwards severalauthors of the sixteenth Century, as Ruellius (561) and Dodonseus(195), refer to the remedy as a vermifuge for children. Its empiricaluse in domestic medication is maintained to the present time, andfrom this source its anthelmintic virtues were learned by the profes-sion.

SARSAPARILLA

The drug sarsaparilla is furnished by the root of a climbing plantof the genus smilax, which prevails over the northern part of SouthAmerica, the whole of Central America, and the west coast of Mexico.Many varieties contribute the drug of commerce. Its qualities weremade known in early European annals from the commendation of ex-plorers of the New World. Monardes (447) is authority for theStatement that it was introduced to Seville about 1536 from "NewSpain," but that a different variety soon followed from Honduras.The "Chronicle of Peru," by Pedro de Cieze de Leon (151), 1553,mentions sarsaparilla as growing in South America, where he observedit between 1533 and 1550. It was recommended as a eure for Syphilisand acute rheumatism, the Spaniards calling it "an excellent medicine."In this connection it may be said that the name applied to it waszarsa parilla, afterward becoming sarsaparilla. Like other remediesintroduced in business Channels for commercial purposes from the

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