FRUCTUS FCENICULI. 309 



on the surface. Each mericarp is marked by 5 prominent ridges, the 

 lateral being thicker than the dorsal. Between the ridges lie vittte, 

 and there are two vittue on the commissural surface, — all filled with 

 dark oily matter. The fruits seen in bulk have a pale greenish 

 hue; their odour is aromatic, and they have a pleasant, saccharine, 

 spicy taste. 



2. German Fennel, Saxon Fennel, produced especially near Weissen- 

 fels in the Prussian province of Saxony ; the fruits are 3%^ to ^ of an 

 inch long, ovoid-oblong, a little compressed laterally, slightly curved, 

 terminating in a short conical stylopodium ; they are glabrous, of a 

 deep brown, each mericarp marked with 5 conspicuous pale ridges, of 

 which the lateral are the largest. Seen in bulk, the fruits have a 

 greenish brown hue ; they have an aromatic saccharine taste, with the 

 peculiar smell of fennel. 



3. Wild or Bitter Fennel (Fenouil amer), collected in the south of 

 France, where the plant grows without cultivation. They are smaller 

 and broader than those of the German Fennel, being from 4 to ^ of an 

 inch long by about yV of an inch wide. They have less prominent ridges 

 and at maturity are a little scurfy in the furrows and on the commissure. 

 Their taste is bitterish, spicy, and strongly fennel-like. The essential 

 oil (Essence de Fenouil amer) is distilled from the entire herb. 



4. Indian Fennel. — A sample in our possession from Bombay 

 resembles Sweet Fennel, but the fruits are not so long, and are usually 

 straight. The mother-plant of this drug is F. Panmorium DC, now 

 regarded as a simple variety of i^. vidgare Gartn. 



Microscopic Structure — The most marked peculiarity of fennel is 

 exhibited by the vittse, which are surrounded by a brown tissue. The 

 latter is made up of cells resembling the usual foim of cork-cells. In 

 Sweet Fennel the vittse are smaller than in the German fruit ; in the 

 transverse section of the latter, the largest diameter of these ducts is 

 about 200 mkm. 



Chemical Composition — The most important constituent of 

 fennel fruits is the volatile oil, which is afforded both by the Sweet 

 and the German fennel to the extent of about 8^ per cent. 



Oil of fennel, from whatever variety of the drug obtained, consists of 



Anethol (or Anise-camphor) C^H^ < ^jj qjj ^g-g , and variable but less 



considerable proportions of an oil, isomeric with oil of turpentine. 

 Anethol is obtainable from fennel in two forms, the solid and the 

 liquid ; crystals of the former are deposited when the oil is subjected 

 to a somewhat low temperature ; the liquid anethol may be got by 

 collecting the portion of the crude oil passing over at 225° C. The 

 crystals of anethol fuse between 16 and 20°; the liquid form of 

 anethol remains fluid even at — 10° C. By long keeping, the crystals 

 slowly become liquid and lose their power of reassuming a crystal- 

 line form. 



Three varieties of oil of fennel are found in commerce, namely the 

 oils of Stueet Fennel and Bitter Fennel offered by the di'ug-houses of 

 the south of France ; their money value is as 3 to 1, the oil of sweet 

 fennel, which has a decidedly su'eet taste, being by far the most 

 esteemed. The third variety is obtained from Saxon fennel, especially 



