GALLiE CHINENSES SEU JAPONICJE. 167 



between two slips of glass, it is seen to be transparent, of a yellowish 

 brown, and much contaminated by various impurities in a state of fine 

 division. It has an agreeable, mild terebinthinous odour and very little 

 taste. The whitish powder with which old Chian turpentine becomes 

 covered, shows no trace of crj^stalline structure when examined under 

 the microscope. 



Chemical Composition — Chian turpentine consists of resin and 

 essential oil. The former is probably identical with the Alpha-resin of 

 mastich. The Beta-resin or Masticin appears to be absent, for we find 

 that Chian turpentine deprived of its essential oil by a gentle heat, dis- 

 solves entirely (impurities excepted) in alcohol sp. gi\ 081 5, which is 

 by no means the case with mastich. 



The essential oil which we obtained by distilling with water 64 

 ounces of Chian turpentine of authentic origin, amounted to nearly 14^? 

 per cent. It has the odour of the drug ; sp. gr. 0'869 ; boiling point 

 161° C; it deviates the ray of polarized light 12-1° to the right. In 

 common with turpentine oils of the Coniferce, it contains a small 

 amount of an oxygenated oil, and is therefore vividly attacked by 

 sodium. When this reaction is over and the oil is again distilled, it 

 boils at 157° C. and has a sp. gr. of 0-862. It has now a more agree- 

 able odour, resembling a mixture of cajuput, mace, and camphor, and 

 nearly the same rotatory power (llo° to the right). By saturation 

 with dry hydrochloric acid, it yields a solid compound after some 

 weeks. After treatment with sodium and rectification, the oil was 

 foundHo consist of C 887o,'H 1140 per cent., which is the composition 

 of oil of turpentine. 



Uses — Chian Turpentine appears to have exactly the properties of 

 the pinic turpentines ; in British medicine it is almost obsolete. In 

 Greece it is sometimes added to wine or used to flavour cordials, in the 

 same manner as turpentine of the pine, or mastich. 



GALLiE CHINENSES SEU JAPONIC^. 



Botanical Origin — The plant which bears this important kind of 

 gall, is JRhus sernialata Murray (Bh. Bucki-amela Roxb.), a tree 

 attaining 30 to 40 feet, common in Northern India, China and Japan, 

 ascending in the outer Himalaya and the Kasia hills to elevations of 

 2,500 to 6,000 feet.' 



History — In China these galls are probably known and used both 

 medicinally and in dyeing since very long; they are mentioned in the her- 

 bal Puntsaou, written in the middle of the 16th century. They also occur 

 in Cleyer's "Specimen medicina3 sinicce," Frankfort, 1682, No. 225, under 

 the name u poi pw-.* Kampfer* also mentions a tree " Baibokf, vulgo 

 Fusi," growing on the hills, the pinnate leaves of which he found 

 often provided with an excrescence : " 'Eirt^va-i foliorum informi, 

 tuberosa, multiplici, tenui,'dura, cava, Gallae nostratis usu praestante." No 



^ From analysis performed in my labo- ii. (Madras, 1843) tab. 561, gives a good 

 ratory by Dr. Kraushaar.— F. A. F. figure. 



* Wight, Iconee Plantar. Indiee orientalis, ^ Hanbnry, Science Papers, 266. 



* AnKenitat&i exoticce, 1712. 895. 



