1508

Spanish ships begin returning from the Caribbean with guaiac wood, the sap of which became the first widely used drug imported from the Americas (New Spain). Guaiac was found effective in treating the new “French disease,” later named syphilis. Europeans typically associated the French disease with yaws, a treponemal (i.e., bacterial) disease endemic in tropical climates throughout Europe (Brockliss & Jones, loc 870-874, 1114).