27-4 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



aJysis of crystallographically characterized material will be neces- 

 sary, since the last analysis on record was made in the days when 

 water was HO. 



Department Bulletin 803, A Chemical Stud}' of the Ripening and 

 Pickling of California olives, was issued, as well as papers on Ilex 

 vomitora as a native source of caffeine, upon the effect of lime upon 

 the sodium chlorid tolerance of wheat seedlings, and upon pine- 

 needle oils. 



Directions have been distributed for the manufacture of citrus- 

 fruit butter and of confections from orange and grape-fruit ])eel. 



DRUGS AND PHARMACOLOGY. 



An exposition of the activities and aims of the bureau's pharma- 

 cognosy laboratory was published in the Journal of the American 

 Pharmaceutical Association. The following publications have been 

 issued or prepared : SantoUna chamaecyjycvi'issus L., an Adulterant 

 of MatHcana chamomiUa L.; The Resin of Man-Root {^Ipomoeo. 

 yandurata L.) Meyer, with a Note on Two Other Convolvulaceous 

 Resins; The Crystallograph}' of Morphine and Certain of its Deriva- 

 tives; Relative Content of Volatile Oil and Ash in Sage Leaves; 

 Partial Analj'ses of 330 American Crude Drugs; Acid-Insoluble Ash 

 Standards for Crude Drugs: and Commercial Hydrastis (Golden- 

 seal). 



A report Avas issued upon the composition of oil of chenopodium 

 from various sources. The object was to learn whether some of 

 the untoward effects occasionally observed clinically when this oil 

 is used as an anthelmintic could be explained. It was found that cer- 

 tain precautions in the distillation of the chenopodium oil from the 

 plant must be observed in order to avoid the decomposition of the 

 active principle, ascaridole, by prolonged contact with steam or boil- 

 ing water. Oil distilled in Java was found to be very similar to the 

 oils of American origin. Oil distilled from wild plants collected in 

 Florida was found to contain less ascaridole than the oil distilled 

 from cultivated plants in Maryland. The same constituents were 

 found in it that were found in the Maryland oil. The terpenes of 

 chenopodium oil were found to contain /j>-cymene, Mimonene, and 

 probably 7-terpinene. In order to learn whether the therapeutic 

 action of chenopodium oil is dependent solely upon ascaridole there 

 were prepared pure ascaridole, the terpenes of chenopodium oil, and 

 a derivative of ascaridole. These were furnished to the United 

 States Public Health Service and to the International Health Board 

 to be tested for toxicity and anthelmintic action. A report Avas also 

 issued upon the essential oil of Ruhieva midti-fida, a relative of cheno- 

 podium. to determine if it might be used in place of oil of chenopo- 

 dium. It was found to contain phellandren and anethole but no 

 ascaridole. 



The work upon the toxicity of gossypol, the phenol found in cotton 

 seed, has been practically completed. It was determined that long- 

 continued feeding of this substance produces perfectly characteristic 

 symptoms, the principal ones of which are loss of weight and appe- 

 tite and a paresis of the extremities. Careful analyses were also 

 made of different varieties of seeds, and it was shown that they differ 



