English Jargon

[ChristopherSea]

I enjoyed the pharmacognosy herein. Acetylsalicylic acid is actually the prodrug of the active metabolite, salicylic acid. The salicylic/Salicin name was derived from the Latin word 'Salix,' which is the genus of the willow tree that the analgesic was first isolated from, as you point out. Although aspirin is synthesized from phenol today, Native Americans used willow infusions to treat fever and for pain relief. Great poem brownlie, thanks for sharing it.   /Chris