“Beaver tail aspirin?”
“The oil found in the glands at the base of its tail contains salicylic acid (aspirin) which was used as medicine for headaches and fever in the middle ages.”
Well, I understand they like to chew on young willow trees, I guess that’s where they’d get it.
Um, that’s not where aspirin — nor ass-pirin — comes from.
Aspirin (salicylic acid) comes from willow bark. The willow’s scientific genus is ‘salix’. The “castoreum” oil from a beaver’s anal glands therefore does CONTAIN some salicylic acid because their diet is heavy in willow bark. But, to the best of my knowledge, nobody ever used the oily secretions from a beaver’s anal glands to cure a headache.