ACORUS CALA^IUS. 313 



Each piece is obscurely marked on the upper surface with the 

 scars, often hairy, of leaves, and on the under with a zigzag line of 

 little, elevated, dot-like rings, the scars of roots. The root-stock is 

 usually rough and shrunken, varying in colour from dark brown 

 to orange-brown, breaking easily with a short, corky fracture, and 

 exhibiting a pale brown spongy interior. The odour is aromatic 

 and agreeable, the taste bitterish and pungent." As regards its 

 microscopic structure, Dr. Dymock says : — " A section of the 

 rhizome is like an open net-work, composed of rows of nearly 

 round cells and open spaces (water passages). Most of the cells 

 contain small starch granules, but some of them essential oil. At 

 the junction of the cortical and central portions of the rhizome is 

 a very distinct row of small empty cells. The vascular bundles 

 are numerous, especially just within the line of small cells just 

 noticed ; each bundle consists of a ring of spiral vessels surrounding 

 a number of jointed tubes. In the Bombay market, two kinds of 

 " Vekhand " (the local name of the root) are known, viz. : — 

 "Multani," value about 3 J Es. per maund of 41 pounds, and 

 " Ghati," value about 2i Es." 



A volatile oil is distilled both from the leaves and from the root? 

 that of the former being preferable for toilet perfumes and aromatic 

 vinegars ; it is also used for scenting snuffs. The oil from the root 

 has a burning, aromatic and camphoraceous flavour ; it is used in 

 England to improve the flavour of gin and to impart a peculiar 

 taste to certain varieties of beer. The flavour and aroma of both 

 oils vary, however, according to the country in which the plant is 

 grown, and the yield of the oil from the root depends on whether 

 the root has been peeled or not. 



Kurbatow* obtained, by fractional distillation of the oil of 

 Acorus Calamus root, portions boiling between 140^ and 280*^ C, 

 a considerable portion invariably boiling between 158^ and 159^. 

 This portion was composed of the hydrocarbon C^gH^g, and 

 possessed a terebinthinate odour ; ic was soluble in alcohol and in 

 ether, and was of sp. gr. 0-8793 at 0'^'' C. At 250"^ he observed a 

 blue oil distil over, and the hydrocarbon passing between 255^ and 

 258^ was but slightly soluble in alcohol, and would not combine 

 with dry hydrochloric acid as did the portion boiling between 158^- 

 159^, forming a crystallisable chlorhydrate fusible at 65^. 



* Pharm. Centralhalle, 1874, p. 123. 



