510 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



ketone having an odor like oenanthic aldehyde; cenanthic alcohol; 

 an ester which splits up into cenanthic alcohol and an acid resulting 

 by oxidation from the cenanthic ketone. (Enanthic alcohol and its 

 ester possess the characteristic odor which distinguishes true oil of 

 gaultheria from the artificial methyl salicylate. 

 Literature. Holm, Merck's Report, 1908, p. 1. 



SAPOTACE^;, OR GUTTA-PERCHA FAMILY 



A family of about 300 species of tropical trees and shrubs. The 

 leaves are alternate and evergreen, the flowers are regular bisexual 

 and occur in the axils of the leaves, and the fruits are berries. The 

 plants are especially characterized by the presence of laticiferous sacs, 

 which occur in rows and are distributed in the pith and cortex, and 

 accompany the vascular bundles throughout the veins of the leaves. 

 The latex is composed of irregular, doubly refracting, amorphous 

 masses of caoutchouc, which when collected and dried furnishes the 

 gutta-percha of commerce. To this family also belongs Achras 

 Sapota, known as the sapodilla tree or " bully-tree," which is indig- 

 enous to tropical America, and furnishes the sapodilla plum. The 

 latter resembles a russet apple in color and size, and possesses a milky 

 acrid juice which disappears when the fruit matures and it develops a 

 sweet taste and is edible. The seeds of the sapodilla are sometimes 

 used in medicine and the latex obtained from the tree is used in the 

 manufacture of a chewing gum. 



GUTTA PERCHA. Gutta Pertscha or Gummi Plasticum. The 

 concrete, milky exudation of a number of species of Palaquium, 

 and 1 or 2 species of Payena (Fam. Sapotacese), evergreen trees, 

 indigenous to Indo-China and the East Indies. The laticiferous sacs 

 occur in the pith of the tree, and there are various methods for col- 

 lecting the latex, the most usual being to fell the trees, and make a 

 series of incisions, about 3 cm. in depth through the bark to permit 

 the flow of the latex, which is then collected in suitable receptacles. 

 The product solidifies forming a more or less porous mass. This is 

 then placed in hot water and kneaded, so as to remove the wood and 

 other grosser impurities. It is then converted into large blocks, 

 weighing from 10 to 20 K., which are shipped to Singapore and thence 

 sent to London. It is estimated that a single tree will yield from 

 1.5 to 8 K. of gutta percha. 



The crude gutta percha, which is imported, contains considerable 

 impurities, as fragments of wood and even a quantity of sand, and is 

 further purified before it is finally distributed. 



