GAULTHERIA 147 



easily be mistaken by those who have once tasted it, 

 may be recognized in a variety of other plants whose 

 botanical habits are very dissimilar. 



"It exists very exactly in some of the other species of 

 the same genus, particularly in Gaultheria hispidula, 

 also in Spircea Ulmaria and the root of Spiraea lobata. 

 It is particularly distinct in the bark of sweet birch, 

 Betula lenta, one of our most useful and interesting 

 trees. 



"This taste and odor reside in a volatile oil, which is 

 easily separated by distillation. The essential oil of 

 Gaultheria, which is often kept in our druggists' shops, 

 is of a pale or greenish-white color, and perfectly trans- 

 parent. It is one of the heaviest of the volatile oils, and 

 sinks rapidly in water, if a sufficient quantity be added 

 to overcome the repulsion of the two heterogeneous 

 fluids. Its taste is aromatic, sweet, and highly pungent. 



"The oil appears to contain the chief medicinal virtue 

 of the plant, since I know of no case in which the leaves, 

 deprived of their aroma, have been employed for any 

 purpose. They are nevertheless considerably astrin- 

 gent, etc. 



"The leaves, the essence, and the oil of this plant 

 are kept for use in the apothecaries' shops. 



"The oil, though somewhat less pungent than those 

 of peppermint and origanum, is employed for the same 

 purposes," etc. 



In this connection, as indicating that the oil was 

 unimportant, perhaps simply an article of curiosity to 

 pharmacists, it may be pointed out that the American 

 Dispensatory of J. R. Coxe, 1825, mentions oil of gaul- 

 theria, but does not say anything with regard to its 

 value or use in medicine, 

 a 



