310 UMBELLIFER^. 



by the manufacturers of Dresden and Leipzig.^ We have been supplied 



with type-specimens of the first two oils by the distillers, Messrs. J. 



Sagnier, fils, & Cie., Nimes ; a specimen of the third has been distilled 



in the laboratory of one of ourselves. 



Oil of fennel differs from that of anise by displaying a considerable 



rotatory power. We found the above-mentioned specimens, examined 



in a column 50 mm. long, to deviate the ray of polarized light to the 



right thus : — 



Oil of Sweet Fennel 29° '8 



,, Bitter ,, 4"'-8 



,, German ,, ...... 9°*1 



The rotatory power is due to the hydrocarbon contained in the oil ; 

 we ascertain that anethol from oil of anise is devoid of it. 



Fennel fruits contain sugar, yet their sweetness or bitterness depends 

 on the essential oil rather than on the presence of that body. The 

 albumen of the seed contains fixed oil, which amounts to about 12 per 

 cent, of the fruit. 



Uses — Fennel fruits are used in medicine in the form of distilled 

 water and volatile oil, but to no considerable extent. The chief con- 

 sumption is in cattle medicines, and of the oil in the manufacture of 

 cordials. 



FRUCTUS ANISI. 



Anise, Aniseed; F. Fruits d'Anis vert; G. Anis. 



Botanical Origin — Pimjnnella Anisum L., an annual plant, is 

 indigenous to Asia Minor, the Greek Islands and Egypt, but nowhere 

 to be met with undoubtedly growing wild. It is now also cultivated 

 in many parts of Europe where the summer is hot enough for ripening 

 its fruits, as well as in India and South America. It is not grown in 

 Britain. 



History — Anise, which the ancients obtained chiefly from Crete and 

 Egypt, is among the oldest of medicines and spices.^ It is mentioned 

 by Theophrastus, by the later writers Dioscorides and Pliny, as well as 

 by Edrisi,^ who enumerates anise " sorte de graine douce " among the 

 products of Tunisia. In Europe we find that Charlemagne (a.d. 812) 

 commanded that anise should be cultivated on the imperial farms in 

 Germany. The Anglo-Saxon writings contain frequent allusions to the 

 use of dill and cumin, but we have failed to find in them any reference 

 to anise, nor in the Meddygon Myddfai. 



The Patent of Pontage granted by Edward I. in 1305 to raise funds 

 for repairing the Bridge of London,* enumerates Anise (anisiurn) among 

 the commodities liable to toll. There are entries for it under the name 

 of Annis vert in the account of the expenses of John, king of France, 

 during his abode in England, 1359-60;' and it is one of the spices of 

 which the Grocers' Company of London had the weighing and oversight 



^ The Leipzig Chamber of Commerce re- quoted in the article Fructns Carui, p. 305, 



ports the quantity made by four establish- note 5. 



ments in 1872, as 4350 kilo. (95941b.). * [Thomson, R.], Chronicles of London 



'^ On the Anise of the Bible, see note in Bridge, 1827. 156. 



our article Fructus Anethi. ® Douet d'Arcq, Coviptes de VArgenterie. 



'Page 150 of the ^^Description," etc., des Bois de France, 1851. 206. 220. 



