A companion to the United States pharmacopia; . rsaparilla is theone generally esteemed in thiscountry as the best, though Parasarsaparilla is preferred by someunquestionably competentjudges. Jamaica sarsaparilla ispreferred in England, wherethat is the only kind officiallyrecognized. Sarsaparillas are generallyclassified into : 1, mealy sarsa-parillas, in which the paren-chyma cells most frequentlycontain unaltered starch gran-ules, but occasionally a pastymass (altered starch ?); and 2,non - mealy sarsaparillas, i nwhich the parenchyma cells mostfrequently contain a pasty mass(altered starch
A companion to the United States pharmacopia; . rsaparilla is theone generally esteemed in thiscountry as the best, though Parasarsaparilla is preferred by someunquestionably competentjudges. Jamaica sarsaparilla ispreferred in England, wherethat is the only kind officiallyrecognized. Sarsaparillas are generallyclassified into : 1, mealy sarsa-parillas, in which the paren-chyma cells most frequentlycontain unaltered starch gran-ules, but occasionally a pastymass (altered starch ?); and 2,non - mealy sarsaparillas, i nwhich the parenchyma cells mostfrequently contain a pasty mass(altered starch ?), but occasion-ally unaltered starch classification does notseem to have any substantialvalue, pharmacologically orotherwise, except in so far thata mealy or starchy sarsaparilla—be it Honduras, Para, Mexi-can, or any other—is probablya sounder drug than a non-mealy one. It is not improb-able that all the sarsaparillaswould be mealy if carefullycured, and that the non-mealy condition often metwith in Mexican, and most fre-. Fig. 474. -Bundle of Rio Negro Sarsaparilla,reduced. quently in Jamaica sarsaparilla, but occasionally also observed in theHonduras and Para sarsaparillas which are classed as mealy, is simply analteration of the starch arising from careless curing, or exposure to heat, UNITED STATES PHARMACOPOEIA. 893 or moisture, or both, or it may be thatthe roots are non-mealy only in thoseportions which are exposed or coveredby only a very thin layer of earth inthe growing plants. It is well knownthat the portions nearest the rhizomeare almost invariably non-mealy andshrivelled, and that so-called non-mealysarsaparillas are mostly mealy andplump in the portions farthest awayfrom it. We are told that the natives,who collect the roots, sometimes laybare a portion of them and leave theirtask unfinished, to return again at theirconvenience. As the dio^ino- is neces-sarily commenced at the rhizome, theportions of roots nearest to it will thusbe left expo
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