FLORES SAMBUCI. 333 



The oil of cumin, secondly, contains a mixture of hydrocarbons. 

 That which constitutes about one half of the crude oil has been first 

 obtained in 184;! by Gerhardt and Cahours, just from the oil under 

 notice, and therefore called Cymene (or also CymoT). It is a liquid of 

 0873 sp. gr. at 0° (32° F.), boiling at 175°; neither cymene nor cuminol 

 have the same odour and taste as the crude oil. Many other plants 

 have been noticed as containing cymene among the constituents of 

 their essential oils. Thus for instance Cicwta virosa L., Cai'wni Ajowan 

 (page 304), Thymus vulgaris (see art. Folia Thymi), Eucalyptus 

 globulus Labill. 



Cymene, CH* -j ^3x17 (Propylmethyl-benzol), may also be artificially 



obtained from a large number of essential oils having the composition 

 C^'H'^, or C''H"0, or ^"^"0, or C'^IT'O. It differs very remarkably 

 from the oils of the formula C^^ff^ inasmuch as cymene yields the 

 crystalli2able cymensulphonic acids when it is warmed with concen- 

 trated sulphuric acid. 



Lastly, there is present in the oil of cumin a small amount of a 

 terpene, 0'W\ boiUng at 1558° C, as stated in 1865 by C. M. Warren, 

 and in 1873 by Beilstein and Kupfier. 



The dextrogyrate power of cuminol is a little less strong than that 

 of cymene; artificial cymene is optically inert. 



Commerce — Cumin is shipped to England from Mogador, Malta 

 and Sicily, In Malta there were in 1863, 140 acres under cultivation 

 with this crop ; in 1865, 730 acres, producing 2766 cwt.^ 



The export of cumin from Morocco" in 1872 was 1657 cwt. ; that 

 from Bombay in the year 1872-73 was 6766 cwt.;^ and 20,040 cwt. 

 from Calcutta* in the year 1870-71. 



Uses — Cumin is sold by druggists as an ingredient of curry powders, 

 but to a much larger extent for use in veterinary medicine. 



CAPRIFOLIACE^. 



FLORES SAMBUCI. 



Elder Flowers; F. Fleurs de Sureau ; G. Holu/nderbliithe, 

 Fliederhlumen. 



Botanical Origin — Sambucus nigra L. — a large deciduous shrub 

 or small tree, indigenous to Southern and Central Europe (not in Russia), 

 Western Asia, the Crimea, the regions of the Caucasus and Southern 

 Siberia. It is believed to be a native of England and Ireland, but not 

 to be truly wild in Scotland. In other northern parts of Europe, as 

 Norway and Sweden, the elder appears only as a plant introduced there 

 during the middle ages by the monks.' 



History — The Romans, as we learn from Pliny, made use in 



^ Statistical Tables relating to the Colonial of the Presidency of Bombay for 1872-73. 



and other ■possessions of the United Kingdom, pt. ii. 90. 



xi. 618. 619. * Annual Volume of Trade, etc. for the 



2 Consular Reports, Aug. 1873, 917; inl876 Bengal Presidency for 1870-71. 121, 



only 380 cwt. s Schiibeler, PJlanzenwelt Norwegens 



^ Statement of the Trade and Navigation (1873-75) 253. 



