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THE CHEMISTRY OF DORYPHORA SASSAFRAS. 



By James M. Petrie, D.Sc, F.I.C, Linnean Macleay Fellow 

 OF THE Society m Biochemistry. 



(From the Physiological Laboratory of the University oj Sydney.) 



Doryphora sassafras Endlicher, is the characteristic sassafras 

 tree of New South Wales, as Atherosper-ma moschatum is of Vic- 

 toria, and Cinnamormnn Oliveri is of Queensland. Of these, the 

 latter alone belongs to the Lauracese, the same Order as the true 

 Sassajras officinale of North America; while Doryphora and 

 Atherosperma are in the N.O. Monimiaceae. 



D. sassafras is indigenous to Eastern Australia, and is confined 

 almost entirely to New South Wales. It begins in the south of 

 Queensland, and extends southward almost to the Victorian 

 border, while inland, it is limited by the Blue Mountains and the 

 coastal ranges. It grows to an average height of 50 to 80 feet, 

 but in some places has attained the height of 180 feet. 



Aborigines, and also country people, make a tea from the bark, 

 which they drink as a tonic. The light-yellow wood possesses 

 the fragrance of the bark, and is not attacked by insects. 



About a half hundredweight of bark was collected by Mr. W. 

 H. Waters, near Fitzroy Falls, Moss Vale, in June, 1907, and 

 was identified by Mr. R. T. Baker, Curator of the Technological 

 Museum, from specimens of leaves and fruits. The fragrant 

 odour of the bark in its fresh state was very strong, and during 

 the drying, part of the volatile oil escaped, and the fragrance 

 lessened, and finally became very faint. The air-dried material 

 was laid aside at the time, until a convenient opportunity could 

 be obtained to begin the investigation. During the three years' 

 storage, a considerable portion of the most volatile constituents 

 must have been lost, as the faint aromatic odour persisted 

 throughout, and the air of the storeroom was constantly laden 

 with the vapour. 



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