History of aspirin tree in 1758 and noticed an astringency reminiscent of the standard—and expensive—ague cure of Peruvian bark. He collected, dried, and powdered a substantial amount of willow bark, and over the next five years tested it on a number of people sick with fever and agues. In his letter, Stone reported consistent success, describing willow extract's effects as identical to Peruvian bark, though a little less potent. (In fact, the active ingredient of Peruvian bark was quinine, which attacked the infectious cause of malaria, while the active ingredient of willow extract, salicin, relieved the symptoms of malaria but could not cure
Mother of the Forest inserted rods into the holes to support the weight of the scaffolding and the workers while the bark was sawed off. Over 90 days, 60 tons of bark was removed in high and wide sections up to the height of . The bark was thick at the base, and on average . Gale sent samples of the tree to foresters in the east where it was discovered to be 2,520 years old. The removed sections of the bark were shipped by sea around Cape Horn to New York, where they were reassembled in 1855 in the shape of the tree