The properties and preparation of the Rio Negro sarsaparilla, and of the angustura bark, practically examined / by John Hancock.

  • Hancock, John, -approximately 1840.
Date:
1829
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The properties and preparation of the Rio Negro sarsaparilla, and of the angustura bark, practically examined / by John Hancock. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    ■ ployed by the Spaniards of the Orinoco, is indisputably superior. There, it is prepared constantly without boiling, either by di- gestion in wine, or a spirituous menstruum, or by an infusion with water, allowing it to stand for eight or nine days exposed to the sun's rays, or by a fire side in the rainy season, and forming thus a strong vinous or fermented liquor. After my re- turn from the Orinoco to Demerara, in January, 1818,* I had * Early in this year, I published, in the Guiana Chronicle, the Spanish recipe for the Jarave, so called, or diet drink, after which the use of the Sarsa became very general in the Colonies. The following is a somewhat modified and im- proved form of this recipe:—^Take of Rio Negro Sarsa, bruised, 2lb.; Bark of Guaiacum, powdered, 8oz,; raspings of guaiac wood, anise seeds and liquorice root, each 4oz. ; mezereon, harli of the root, 2dz. ; treacle, 21b.; and a dozen bruised cloves ; pour upon these ingredients about four gallons of boiling water, and shake the vessel thrice a day. When a fermentation has well begun, it is fit for use, and may be taken in the dose of a small tumblerfull twice or thrice a day. The publication of the recipe, at least gave an impulse to the employment of jSarsa in the Colony. For some time, it was prepared according to the Spanish process, and which certainly produced the most beneficial results,—surprisingly so it might be said, for many spoke of it as effecting very extraordinary and unexpected cures, even in old invalids, or those who h^d been for a long time entirely -crippled. Some years afterwards, many were found to complain, that they had not expe- rienced that eflicacy in the decoction which had been reported. It was soon perceived, on inquiry, that the persons who had been thus disappointed, were for the most part, those who had confounded the preparation with that of the old decoction of woods, prepared by long boiling. The recipe, or formula, having been anonymously published in the Gazettes, which are seldom preserved in Demerara, in a short time after, no indication was left for recurring to it. Many people would send to the druggists' shops for the articles, and some not even knowing what was meant, would send for the decoction of the moods, -They received the packages, of course, with a very small portion of the more active article, Sarsa, (it being the dearest one), put up in the old way, and with the usual pharmacopoeial directions, by which it wag boiled till quite exhausted of all active properties, This afi'ords an example of the dilapsus and neglect of many of the most valuable remedies from mere care- lessness and inattention. . If intended for old and obstinate complaints, as leprous affections, elephantiasis, various anomalous ulcerations, and foul disorders of the skin, there was added to the jug a solution of tartrate of antimony, with muriate of mercury and ammonia, viz. Antim. Tar. 12grs. Hydr. Oxymur. 8 or 10 grs. Mur. Ammonise, 2 drachms. Thesethreearticles, being previously dissolved in a little water, are to