Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1899-01-05
I I e)e,d's ssssn, ess;';.
What is Sassafras Good For 2

This is a question that was asked
the other day by correspondent oj
the News and Courier, and the Sa.
vannah Nows makes the following
answer
The correspondent, if he is a ma.
tive of the South, has probably been
familiar with the plant all his life
No doubt he has drank sassafras tea
hundreds of times, smaoked his lips
over it and asked for more. Never
theless he knows no more Of it than
that sassafras is shrub of tree, the
roots, branches and leaves of which
have rather strong, pungent, aro-
matte and rather sweetish taste, and
that tea is sometimes made of the
bark OF the roots. Familiarity with
the sassafras has made it .unintcrest-
ing no body in the South pays a
great deal of attention to it. Il
grows almost everywhere, and espe-
cially likes the soils of old fields and
hedge rows. 1t grows wild. TO
saggest to Georgian or South Caro-
linian that sassafras be cultivated
would be laughed at.
Nevertheless the sassafras plant
is full of virtue from the lowest
point of its taproot to the crown of
its foliage. Bark, leaves, wood, pith
and roots contain valuable properties.
The leaves are heavily charged with
a mucilaginons juice, which may be
made to serve every purpose of gum
arabic. The pith also is a gum pro.
ducer in even larger degree than the
leaves. An investigator says that a
few inches of sassafras pith put into
a glass of cold water will in a few
minutes make glassful of mucilage.
During the Civil war, in some parts
of the South, sassafras leaves were
employed to furnish the thickening
FOR soup, and it was very palatable
and healthful thickcning, too. Dur
ing that time, also, sassafras tea was
largely used as a substitute for coffee
and the ordinary tea of commerce.
The sassafras infusion, however, is a
more hcalthful beverage than either
tea or coffee. 1t has positive altera-
tive properties, and as a blood
remedy it should be ranked along
with sarsaparilla. It Is also a di-
ruetic and soporific it is good for
the kidneys and to produce porspira-
tion. 1t is valuable in cases of colds
or fevers. Oil of sassafras, accord
ing to a medical authority, els used
in the treatment Of cutancous dis
eases, rheumatism, gout, etc" 1t is
commonly used in connection with
other drugs. 1t has been stated that
great many of the "maGic" curc-all
proprietary liniments which are so
popular, at Is to so cents a bottle,
are made of spirits of turpentine,
costing about 40 cents gallon, and
little oil OF sassafras, and that a
great many of the "discovcries,"
"curcs,' and the like, which cost 81
bottle have as their base an infu-
sion of sassafras. We recognize the
virtues of the sassafras and the tur-
pentine after somebody a thousand
or 80 miles away has mixed them
and given them catchy name, but
we do not care much about them in
their natural state. Flavorinp
extracts are also made from sassa-
fras, and there is no more delightful
and refreshing beverage than cool
sassafras beer on hot day. The
mucilage from the pith of the sassa-
fras is said to be an excellent remedy
for sore eyes, or for almost any
irritatcd md sore tissue. AS gar.
gle for so,e throat sassafras tea,
with alum, has q recognized stand
ing in every rural housewives cup
board. Still, most people are un-
familiar with the sassafras, for the
reasOn that it ia 40 common.