FRUCTUS CARUI. .-507 



■t 



prove no longer to possess the specific odour of the drug. By distillin fl- 

 it over sodium it acquires a rather pleasant odour: its spec o-r at 15* 

 C. is equal to 0-861. 1 ^ • 



Carvol at 20° C. has a sp. gr. of 0-953 ; it boils at 224° C. ; the 

 same oil appears to occur in dill (see Fructus Anethi), and an oil of the 

 same percental constitution is yielded by the spearmint. The latter 

 however deviates the plane of polarization to the left. If 4 parts of 

 carvol, either from caraways, dill, or spearmint, are mixed with 1 part 

 of alcohol, sp. gr. 0-830, and saturated with sulphuretted hydrogen, 



crystals of (C^^H^Cj^SH^ are at once formed as soon as a little ammonia 

 IS added.^ 



Oil of caraway of inferior quality is obtained from the refuse of the 

 fruit ; we find it less dextrogyrate than the oil from the fruits alone ; 

 this is due to the admixture of oil of turpentine before distilling. 



If the carvol is distilled there remains in the still a thickish residue, 

 from which a substance of the phenol class may be extracted by 

 caustic lye. 



Oil of caraway distilled in England from home-gro^vn caraways is 

 preferred in this country. On the Continent, that extracted from the 

 caraways of Halle and Holland is considered to be of finer flavour than 

 the oil obtained from those of Southern Germany. 



■fif ^^ ^"'^''''^-"^^ ^^"^^ ^^ caraway is rich in tannic matter, striking blue 

 Jith a salt of iron. It occurs abundantly in the tissue around the oil- 

 ducts, where the presence of sugar may be also detected by alkaline 

 tartrate of copper. Sugar occurs likewise in the embryo, but not in the 

 albumen, in which latter protein substances predominate. 



Production and Commerce — Caraways are exported from Fin- 

 mark, the most northerly province of Norway ; from Finland and 

 ■aussia. In Germany, the cultivation, recommended by Gleditsch in 



Mor 



Halle 



Merseburg 



also m Prussia, are stated to yield annually about 30,000 cwt. Dutch 

 ^^? A?^^ are produced in the provinces of North Holland, Gelderland 

 and North Brabant, in the latter two from wild plants.* Caraways are 



Illy sliipped from the ports of Morocco ; tl 

 m 1872 was 952 cwt. and 288 cwt. in 1875. 



^0 iy,160 cwt., almost all being from Holland. 



-Lue essential oil is manufactured on a large scale. According to a 

 statenjej^|. of the Chamber of Commerce of Leipzig,* four establishments 

 ?L^i!ti, district produced in 1872 no less a quantity than 30,955 kilo. 

 ^»^-/7 lb.), valued at £24,000. 



in ^^^^r~^araway in the form of essential oil or distilled water is used 

 gj^^^icine as an aromatic stimulant, or as a flavouring ingredient. 

 Iy a consumption in Europe is far more important as a spice, in 

 ^ad, cakes, cheese, pastry, confectionary, sauces, etc., or in the form of 

 J as an ingredient of alcoholic liquors. The oil is also used for the 

 scenting of soap. ^ 



1 pj 



2 n;'?'"'' *^ourn, vii. (1876) 75 « Consular Heports, 1873 and 1876, 



terdani 1^^^' ^^^teekeningctK etc., Rot- ^ Pharmaceutische Zdtiing, 15th April 



^ 1854-185G. 351, 1874. 



