Dictionary.net

Indigenous in the United States. Sassafras wood and root, and especially the bark of the root, Sassafras Radicis Cortex (Ph. U. S.), have been considered stimulant, sudorific, and diuretic. The virtues depend upon essential oil, Oleum Sassafras, the odour of which is not unlike that of fennel. It has been used in cutaneous diseases, chronic rheumatism, etc. The pith of the stems, Sassafras medulla (Ph. U. S.), abounds in gummy matter, which it readily imparts to water, forming a limpid mucilage, which is much employed as a collyrium in ophthalmia, and as a drink in dysentery, catarrh, etc. (one drachm of the pith to a pint of boiling water).