DILL 1 19 



The student should observe 



(a) The very flat shape of the mericarp, 



(b) The inconspicuous dorsal ridges, and the prominent lateral 



ones (wings), 



(c) The mericarps, usually separate and free from the pedicel. 



Constituents. Dill fruit contains from 3 to 4 per cent, of volatile 

 oil (sp. gr. 0-900 to 0-915 ; O.R. + 70 to + 80), consisting of carvone 

 (C 14 H 10 O, 40 to 60 per cent.), a colourless liquid with strong dill odour, 

 and limonene associated with phellandrene and other terpenes. 



Substitutes. Indian dill (P. Sowa, Kurz) ; imported in large 

 quantities and used as a substitute for caraways when these are 

 scarce ; mericarps frequently united and attached to a pedicel ; 



A 

 FIG. 65. Dill fruit. A, English ; B, Indian. Magnified 6 diam. 



dorsal surface more convex than European dill, ridges paler and 

 more conspicuous, mericarps narrower and less prominently winged. 

 The volatile oil is different in composition (sp. gr. 0-948 to 0'968, 

 optical rotation + 47'5 to + 50'5, 40 to 50 per cent, distils over 

 230, contains dill-apiol) and the fruits should not be usedin place of 

 European dill. 



Uses. Dill is employed as an aromatic stimulant and carminative. 



ANISE FRUITS 



(Aniseed, Fructus Anisi) 



Source, &C. The anise, Pimpinella Anisum, Linne (N.O. Umbelli- 

 ferce), is an annual plant indigenous to Greece, Egypt, and Asia Minor, 

 but cultivated largely in southern Russia, and also in Spain and 

 Bulgaria. Aniseed is one of the oldest of medicines and spices ; it was 

 cultivated by the ancient Egyptians, and was known to Dioscorides 



