Bot. p. 323.
224. LAURUS nobilis. BAY-TREE. Leaves and Berries. L.--In distillation
with water, the leaves of bay yield a small quantity of very fragrant
essential oil; with rectified spirit, they afford a moderately warm
pungent extract. The berries yield a larger quantity of essential oil:
they discover likewise a degree of unctuosity in the mouth; give out to
the press an almost insipid fluid oil; and on being boiled in water, a
thicker butyraceous one of a yellowish-green colour, impregnated with
the flavour of the berry. An infusion of the leaves is sometimes drunk
as tea; and the essential oil of the berries may be given from one to
five or six drops on sugar, or dissolved by means of mucilages, or in
spirit of wine.--Woodville's Med Bot. p. 680, 681.
225. LAURUS Sassafras. SASSAFRAS-TREE. Bark. L. E. D.--Its medical
character was formerly held in great estimation; and its sensible
qualities, which are stronger than any of the woods, may have probably
contributed to establish the opinion so generally entertained of its
utility in many inveterate diseases: for, soon after its introduction
into Europe, it was sold at a very high price, and its virtues were
extolled in publications professedly written on the subject. It is now,
however, thought to be of very little importance, and seldom employed
but in conjunction with other medicines of a more powerful nature.
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