272 SIMARUBACE^E 



unripe, but full grown. By some, the bergamot orange is supposed to be 

 an established hybrid a product of cultivation. A greenish or greenish- 

 yellow, thin liquid, having a peculiar, very fragrant odor, and an aromatic, 

 bitter taste. The color is due to chlorophyll. It is distinguished from the 

 oils of orange and lemon by forming a clear solution with solutions of potas- 

 sium. This oil, so valuable in perfumery, was official in the U.S. P. of 1890, 

 but was dropped from the list in 1900. 



CONSTITUENTS. By fractional distillation there comes over as the first fraction 

 at 60 to 65 about 40 per cent, of the oil. This has a lemon odor and consists 

 of almost pure limonine. The second fraction (10 per cent.), distilling at 

 77 to 82, consists principally of dipentene, CioHu. The third fraction of 

 about 25 per cent., distilling between 87 and 91, consists of linalool, CioHi 8 O. 

 The fourth fraction, 90 to 105 (approximately 20 per cent.), having the pro- 

 nounced bergamot odor, consists of linalool (linalyl) acetate, CioHnOCjHjO. 

 It is to this that the peculiar odor of bergamot is probably due. 



286. WHITE ZAPOTE. The seeds of Casimuroa edulis, growing in Mexico. 

 Used as a hypnotic in the hospitals of the City of Mexico. Recently in- 

 troduced in United States. Dose of fl'ext. : K to 9 tin (o.i to 0.6 mils). 



SIMARUBACEJE 



Shrubs and trees with scentless foliage; almost confined to the tropics. Leaves 

 generally compound and alternate. The bitter bark and wood are employed in 

 medicine. 



287. QUASSIA 

 QUASSIA 



The wood of Picrasma ezcelsa (Swartz) Planchon, known commercially as Jamaica 

 Queen, or of Quassia amara Linne (Surinam Quassia). 



BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS. A tree resembling the common ash, attaining 

 a height of 50 or 60, even 100, feet. Leaves pinnate, with an odd leaflet; 

 leaflets opposite, 4 to 8 pairs. Flowers small, pale yellowish-green, in loose 

 panicles, polygamous. Fruit drupaceous, globose, glossy, black. 



HABITAT. Jamaica and other West India islands. 



DESCRIPTION OF DRUG. Imported in dense, tough billets, often 300 mm. 

 (12 in.) thick, freed from the thick, tough bark. The yellowish- white 

 or white raspings or chips are usually employed in pharmacy. The 

 tissue consists mostly of prosenchyma, associated with long wood- 

 fibers with tapering ends, and ducts which, on transverse sections of 

 the wood, appear as pores; inodorous; taste intensely bitter. Quassia 

 tonic drinking cups are made from the wood on a turning lathe; water 

 poured into them acquires a bitterness, in a few minutes, of which 

 the wood seems inexhaustible. 



Quas'sia amar'a Linne, Surinam Quassia, comes in much thinner 

 billets, and has a thin, brittle bark, it seldom reaches our market. 

 It may be distinguished from the Picrasma excelsa (Jamaica quassia) 

 by the fact that the medullary rays in the former consist of single 

 rows of cells, while those of the latter consist of three rows each. The 



