ANGELICA. 191 



The plant delights in moist situations, or the banks of running 

 water, but it will grow freely in any soil or exposure. The plants 

 are raised frora seed in beds 4zh feet wide, to be transplanted ; an 

 ounce of seed will be sufhcient to sow 12 feet of such beds. The 

 seed should be sown at the end of August, or as soon as it is ripe, as 

 the plants will come up earlier and stronger than when sown in 

 the spring. When the young plants are 4 to 6 inches high they 

 can be transplanted into rows 2 feet apart. They will soon strike 

 root and advance quickly in strong growth. In the second year 

 these strong, erect, branchy stalks will be several feet high, 

 producing large umbels of flowers and seed. In the second year, 

 if the seed is not wanted, the plants should be cut down in May, 

 and the stock will send out side shoots ; by repeating this process 

 every year the same plant may be long continued. 



The Angelica was formerly cultivated on account of its aromatic 

 leaf stalks, which were blanched and eaten as celery ; now they 

 are candied and preserved in syrup by confectioners ; for this 

 purpose the young shoots of the stem and stalks of the leaves are 

 the useful parts, and should be cut while green and tender, in May 

 or June. 



All parts of the plant (Angelica Archangelica) are strongly and 

 pleasantly aromatic ; the part most in demand is the fresh root, 

 the essential oil of which is distilled in a large way, principally in 

 Germany. The yield from the Thuringian root is 0"7o per cent., 

 and from the Saxony root 1 per cent. The sp. gr. of this oil is 

 0-860 at 10^ C, 0-858 at 15^ C, and 0-853 at 20^ C. (Schimmel). 

 The presence in essential oil of angelica root of various unidentified 

 terpenes (CjoH-^g) was established in 1882 by Beilstein and 

 Wiegand* : also by Naudin.-f Messrs. Schimmel & Co. have now 

 ascertained the presence of Phellandrene in the constituents 

 boiling at 170° C. (see Elemi). These constituents on being 

 fractionated readily gave, with nitrate of sodium and glacial acetic 

 acid, large quantities of a solid nitrite, the identity of which with 

 phellandrene nitrite was established by the determination of the 

 melting-point of the repeatedly re-crystallised substance. The 

 chloroformic solution of the nitrite twisted the ray of polarised 

 light to the left. As the rotation of phellandrene is known to be 



* Ber. Deutsch. Cheni. Ges., 1SS2, p. 1741. 

 t lUd., 1883, p. 1382. 



