292 ODOROGr.APHIA. 



stronger odour, but the odour is always that of the whole plant. 

 The proportion of essential oil is small compared with the amount 

 of thick black aromatic matter which is left at the bottom of 

 the retort, and is probably due to oxidation of the oil. 



It is \yorthy of note that not more than a trace of oil could be 

 obtained by distilling fresh leayes and stems taken from a plant 

 grown in Paris. 



The products of this plant haye been for many years neglected 

 and it is only recently that attention has been directed to its yery 

 fragrant essential oil and to the fact that the leayes and young 

 branches possess tonic properties, stimulate digestion, and form a 

 valuable remedy in liyer complaints. In the small family of 

 Monimiacece, to which this plant belongs, there are two other plants 

 which are said to possess analogous properties, yiz., the Atkerosperma 

 moschata, Labil., and the Xenururon Veillarcli. 



IVIyrica Gale. 



The Bog Myrtle, Sweet Gale, Sweet Willow, Eoyal Pimento or 

 Bastard Myrtle, belongs to the Genus Myrica, Xat. Ord. Myricacece. 

 The species Myrica Gale is the only European species. It is a 

 native of Britain and found in boggy places, the edges of ponds and 

 on moors. It also occurs in France, in Holland and the northern 

 parts of Europe and America. It is a dwarf fragrant shrub from 

 two to four feet high, with deciduous, linear lanceolate-obovate, 

 toothed or entire exstipulate leaves from two to three inches long. 

 The leaves are very odorous and yield a fine oil by distillation. 

 The flowers are male and female, in separate catkins on the same 

 individual, appearing before the leaves ; the male catkins are 

 clustered. 



The abundance of small berries which are borne by this shrub, 

 yield, by treatment with hot water, as afterwards described, a 

 peculiar wax called Myrtle vxix. This wax difiers in many respects 

 from bees' wax, assuming shades of a yellowish-green colour, and 

 when fresh, emitting a fragrant balsamic odour. It has in some 



