62 ODOROGRAPHIA. 



Another recipe is : — 



Bay oil 1 oz. 



Alcohol, 95 per cent J gallon. 



Mix and allow to stand for a fortnight : then add 1 gallon good 

 Jamaica rum. 



Bay oil is also largely used in Germany in the preparation of 

 Bay rum soap. This soap possesses very refreshing properties and 

 is likely to become very popular. The same proportions of the 

 same ingredients are used as for the wash. 



In the list of plants frequently catalogued as belonging to the 

 genus Myrcia, occur several which are considered by some 

 authorities to belong to the genus Myrtus of the same Xatural 

 order Myrtaccce, and several species of Myrtus whose flowers and 

 seeds are unknown may belong to the genus Myrcia. 



The Natural Order Myrtaccce includes about 75 genera and some 

 2,000 species. The species of the typical genus Myrtus, numbering 

 about 100, are widely scattered, the greater number, however, 

 being found in the mountains of tropical South America, extending 

 into the temperate parts of Chili and even as far South as the 

 Falkland Islands ; others occur in Central Asia and Xew Zealand, 

 w^hile about a dozen species, which some botanists distinguish as a 

 separate genus under the name Jossinia are confined to the 

 Mauritius, Bourbon and neighbouring islands. 



Myrica asplenifoMa (see Comptonia asplenifolia). 



Sweet Bay. 



The common Sweet Bay is the Lcturus Nohilis Lin. (Sp. PL, Ed. 

 i., p. 369). For figure of the plant see Stevenson and Churchill, 

 Med. Bot. t. 125 ; and Bentley and Trimen, Med. Plant, t. 221. 



In Greece it is very common in the forests and is extensively 

 cultivated in the gardens of cloisters. 



In England the Laurus Nobilis only attains the dimensions of a 

 shrub, producing its flowers only in sheltered situations in April 

 and May. In its native soil of Asia Minor, Syria, the countries 

 surrounding the Mediterranean, Italy and Greece, it frequently 

 rises twenty or thirty feet in height, but never loses its shrub-like 

 character. It is much branched, and covered with a smooth olive- 



