280 MYRTACE^. 



contact for a short time with metallic copper. The presence of the 

 metal in the oil may also be shown at once by a scrap of paper which 

 has been impregnated with fresh tincture of guaiacum wood and dried. 

 If it is then moistened with water containing 1 per cent, of sulphocya- 

 nate of potassium, the paper turns intensely blue by the contact with 

 the oil provided the latter contains copper. 



Guibourt ^ has however proved by experiment that the volatile oil 

 obtained by the distillation of the leaves of several species of Melaleuca, 

 Metrosideros and Eucalyptus, has naturally a fine green hue. It is not 

 improbable that this hue is transient, and that the contamination with 

 copper is intentional in order to obtain a permanent green. 



Commerce — The oil is imported from Singapore and Batavia, 

 packed in glass beer or wine bottles. From official statements^ it 

 appears that the imports into Singapore during 1871 were as under: — 



From Java 445 gallons 



„ Manilla 200 ,, 



,, Celebes 3,895 ,, 



,, other places 350 ,, 



Total 4,890 ,, 



Of this large quantity, the greater portion was re-shipped to Bombay, 

 Calcutta, and Cochin China. 



Uses — Cajuput oil is occasionally administered internally as a 

 stimulant, antispasmodic and diaphoretic : externally as a rubefacient 

 it is in frequent use. 



Substitutes — The oil of Eucalyptus oleosa F. Muell. has, we find, 

 the odour of cajuput; and according to Gladstone it agrees, as well as 

 the oils of Melaleuca ericifolia Sm. and M. linariifolia Sm., almost 

 entirely with cajuput oil, except in optical properties. The same is 

 probably the case with the oil of EucalyiDtus globulus Labill, which 

 Cloez (1870) states to be dextrogyre. These oils are shipped to some 

 extent from Australia to Europe, probably as adulterants of other 

 essential oils. 



CARYOPHYLLI. 



Gloves ; F. Oirojles, Clous de Girojles ; G. Geunlrznelken. 



Botanical Origin — Eugenia ca7^ophyllataThMnherg(Garyophyllus 

 aromaticus L.), a beautiful evergreen tree, 30 to 40 feet high, resembling 

 a gigantic myrtle, bearing numerous flowers grouped in small terminal 

 tricotomous cymes. The flower has an inferior ovary about | an inch 

 long, cylindrical, of a crimson colour, dividing at the top into 4 sepals; 

 and 4 round concave petals larger than the calyx, imbricated in the bud 

 like a globe, but at length spreading and soon dropping off. 



The clove-tree is said to be strictly indigenous only in the five small 

 islands constituting the proper Moluccas, namely Tarnati, Tidor, Mortir, 

 Makiyan and Bachian.^ These form a chain on the west side of the 



1 Hist. desDrog. iii. (1869) 278. or Clove Islands, the name has been ex- 



2 Blue Book of the Colony of the Straits tended to all islands east of Celebes and 

 Settlements for 1871, Singapore, 1872. west of New Guinea. 



2 Though these are the original Moluccas 



