56 OIL OF ORIGANUM. 



Although the duty under the new tariff was reduced from 

 Is. 4d. to Is. per lb., the consumption declined. Whether it has 

 continued to do so, it is not easy to ascertain, as no official 

 return similar to that above quoted has since been published. 



ON TfrtJE OIL OF OKIGANUM. 



i85i. IN a recent number of the Pharmaceutical Transactions, 1 

 I endeavoured to prove that the article sold in this country 

 as oil of origanum is, in reality, the oil of thyme (Thymus 

 vulgaris), under which latter name it is imported from the 

 South of France. I further stated, that so far as my 

 observations extended, true oil of origanum was unknown 

 in English commerce. 



Authentic As it appeared desirable to have an authentic specimen of 

 oil of origanum for comparison, a quantity of the oil was pro- 

 cured and distilled with water in the ordinary way. The plant, 

 which was chiefly collected in the neighbourhood of Sheerness, 

 was quite fresh, and very fully in flower when submitted to 

 distillation. It afforded an exceedingly small amount of 

 yellow oil, seventy pounds producing scarcely an ounce. This 

 small produce may in part be attributed to the coolness and 

 humidity of the weather for some time before the plant was 

 collected, as it is evident from the following passage in Brande's 

 Dictionary of Materia Medica, that a much larger amount of 

 oil is usually obtained. This author states, " the average produce 

 of essential oil from this herb [origanum] is one pound from 

 two hundredweight ; but it varies exceedingly with the season 

 and culture of the plant." 



Distinctive Contrasted with oil of thyme, oil of origanum is distinguished 

 ers * by the following characters : 



1 Odour, which is somewhat analogous to that of oil of pepper- 

 mint, and entirely dissimilar from that of oil of thyme. 



2. Colour, which in oil of origanum is bright yellow, while 

 the ordinary kind of oil of thyme is of a more or less deep red- 

 dish-brown. 



1 Vide vol. x., p. 6. 



