BENZOIN 513 



of cinnamic acid and resinotannol (92.6 per cent), and (6) an ester of 

 cinnamic acid and benzoresinol. Benzoresin on decomposition 

 yields 30.3 per cent of CINNAMIC ACID, 64.5 per cent resinotannol, 

 which is soluble in a concentrated sodium salicylate solution, and 5.2 

 per cent of benzoresinol. 



Sumatra benzoin also contains traces of benzaldehyde and 

 benzol; 0.1 to 1 per cent of vanillin; 1 per cent of the phenylpropyl 

 ester of cinnamic acid; 2 to 3 per cent of styracin (cinnamic cinna- 

 mate) ; and 14 to 17 per cent of insoluble matter, consisting chiefly of 

 woody tissues. 



Constituents of Siam Benzoin. It consists largely of a resinous 

 substance, siabenzoresin, which is composed of about 90 per cent 

 of an ester of benzoic acid and siaresinotannol, and about 10 per cent 

 of an ester of benzoic acid and benzoresinol. Siabenzoresin on 

 saponification yields 38.2 per cent of BENZOIC ACID, 56.7 per cent 

 of siaresinotannol, and 5.1 per cent of benzoresinol. 



Siam benzoin also contain 0.3 per cent of a neutral aromatic 

 liquid, which is probably an ester of benzoic acid, the nature of 

 the alcohol not having been determined as yet; 0.15 to 1.5 per cent of 

 VANILLIN; a small quantity of free benzoic acid, and 1.3 to 3.3 per 

 cent of impurities in the form of woody tissues. Penang Benzoin has 

 an odor of styrax, and in composition resembles Siam benzoin. It 

 contains considerable benzoic acid, and it and Palembang benzoin, 

 also from Sumatra, are- a source of benzoic acid. 



Literature. Ludy, Arch. d. Pharm., 1893, p. 43; Tschirch, Die 

 Harze und Harzbehalter, 



OLEACE.E, OR OLIVE FAMILY 



A family of about 500 species of trees and shrubs, of wide dis- 

 tribution. The leaves are opposite, exstipulate, being either simple 

 or odd-pinnate; the flowers are 2- to 4-parted, and usually arranged 

 in panicles; the fruit is either a samara, drupe or berry. Several of 

 the members of this family are widely distributed in the United 

 States. The genus Fraxinus yields a number of our native, hardy 

 and most ornamental trees. The white ash (Fraxinum americana) 

 sometimes attaining a height of 40 or even 50 M. and being termed 

 the Venus of the forest, the oak being known as the Hercules. To 

 this family also belongs the olive, a tree indigenous to western Asia, 

 and probably the Mediterranean region and which has been culti- 

 vated from remote antiquity for its edible fruit and the fixed oil 

 (olive oil) which it yields. The fruit is a drupe, and when ripe is of a 



