218 PHILIPPINE RESINS, GUMS, AND OILS 



basil oil, which is a yellowish-green, volatile oil lighter than 

 water. Parry "^^ states that it has an excellent fragrance and is 

 used in making mignonette extract. The yield of oil obtained 

 from the herb is about 1.5 per cent or less. 



Ocimum basilicum is an erect, branched under-shrub 0.5 to 

 1.5 meters in height. It is smooth, or somewhat hairy, and very 

 aromatic. The leaves are entire or slightly toothed and 1.5 to 

 3 centimeters long. The flowers are borne in racemes which 

 are 8 to 15 centimeters long. The corolla is pink or purplish 

 and 9 to 10 millimeters long. 



This species is apparently common and widely distributed 

 from the Batanes Islands to southern Mindanao. 



Genus OCIMUM 

 OCIMUM SANCTUM L. SuLASI or HOLY BASIL. 



Local names: Albahdca f (Spanish); balanoi (Tagalog) ; biddi (Iloko) ; 

 kolokogo (Tayabas) ; kalui (Basilan) ; kamdngi (Bisaya) ; katigau (Mi- 

 samis) ; kamangkdu (Camarines) ; lokoloko (Polillo) ; magau (Cotabato) ; 

 suldsi (Tagalog). 



HOLY BASIL OIL 



This species, known as holy basil or tulsi, is the sacred plant 

 of India. 



Watt t states that : 



The Tulsi is the most sacred plant in the Hindu religion; it is conse- 

 quently found in or near almost every Hindu house throughout India. 

 Hindu poets say that it protects from misfortune and sanctifies and guides 

 to heaven all who cultivate it. * * * Under favourable circumstances, 

 it grows to a considerable size, and furnishes a woody stem large enough 

 to make beads for the rosaries used by Hindus on which they count the 

 number of recitations of their deity's name. 



According to Bacon § 13.86 kilos of leaves which were forty- 

 eight hours old at the time of distillation gave 83.3 grams of a 

 green-colored oil (0.6 per cent). This oil had a sweet, anise- 



30 

 like odor and the following properties : — Refractive index, N^ 



30 30° 



= 1.5070; optical rotation, A^. =0; specific gravity, ^ 



=0.952; saponification number, 2.8. 



* Parry, E. J., Chemistry of essential oils and artificial perfumes, 

 page 308. 



t This name belongs properly to the preceding species. 



J Watt, G., Dictionary of the economic products of India, Volume 5 

 (1891), page 444. 



§ Bacon, R. F., Philippine terpenes and essential oils, IV. Philippine 

 Journal of Science, Section A, Volume 5 (1910), page 261. 



