( 46: ) 
oil, manifefting this aromatic principle flill more ftrongly, 18 aflertéd 
~ by Valentynus and Rumphius; but as they called the oil by no pecu- 
liar name, it was not recognized as the Cajeput oil until fome of 
thefe leaves were fent to Amfterdam, where, upon being fubjected to 
diftillation, an oil was obtained, agreeirig, in every refpeat, with that 
of the beft Cajeput.* ~ This effential oil appears to be lodged in the 
_ minute glands or veficles of the leaves, analogoufly to that noticed 
of the hypericum perforatum.* _ . ter? 
Cajeput oil, (called alfo Oleum Wittnebianum, from Wittneben, 
who gave an account of the procefs for obtaining it,) though un- 
known in Britain, is now admitted into the Materia Medica of all the 
principal foreign pharmacopozias. Se at 3s 
It is imported into Europe from the Eaft Indies, and is diftilled 
chiefly in the Iland of Banda. Thunberg ‘ fays that it has the ap- 
pearance of an inflammable fpirit, of a green colour, and fo com- 
pletely volatile that it evaporates entirely, leaving no refiduum ; its 
odour is of the camphoraceous kind, with a terebinthinate admixture: 
when it is applied to the noftrils copioufly, its {mell is at firft ungrate~ 
ful, but in a {mall quantity, or at a diftance, its odour is very agree- 
able. Goetz,’ on the contrary, fays that it is limpid, or rather 
yellowifh, and that on being kept in a vial not ‘clofely corked, it 
diffufes at firft a pleafant odour, which gradually changes to one fome- 
what like that of turpentine, and at length becomes fimilar to that of 
favine. Its tafte, he fays, is aromatic, and approaching to that of the 
oil of rofemary. A fingle drop, applied to the temples, produces a 
peculiar fenfation in the interior canthus of the eyes, and excites tears, 
which he confiders as the moft certain criterion of the genuinenefs of 
the oil. From its exorbitant price it is frequently adulterated, and 
therefore is feldom found in perfect purity in Europe. | 
_ Cajeput oil appears to be a powerful medicine, and is much efteemed 
in Germany, as well as in India, in the charaéter of a general remedy 
4 Vide Nieuwe vaderland{che Letter-Oeffningen. P. 3. n. 3. bladz: 104. 
* The leaves of this melaleuca, according to De Loureiro, are an ufeful medicine; he- 
fays, they are “ attenuant, ftrengthening, ftomachic, diuretic, emmenagogue, and of fer4 
¥ice-in obftructions of the liver, dropfy, debility of the ftomach, and dyfpnoea. 
‘In Vet. Acad. Handl: 1782. p. 2236 © Comm. Nor: 173%. ps 5. 
eS 4 
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