Cascara sagrada

Joyce's realistic depiction of Bloom's bowel movement in Calypso includes one vividly personal detail: an ongoing struggle with "constipation." He credits his deliverance from this ailment on June 16 to consumption of a popular herbal laxative, "cascara sagrada."

John Hunt 2017

Shredded cascara sagrada bark posed against the leaves and berries of the buckthorn tree. Source: rawjah.com.

Bottle of cascara sagrada, production date unknown, in the compressed "tabloid" form trademarked by Burroughs Wellcome, a London company established in 1880 by two American pharmaceutical salesmen. Source: oldshopstuff.com.