ANISE 121 



and should carefully compare the fruits with those of Conium macu- 

 latum, noting the absence of any deep groove in the endosperm, this 

 being the best macroscopic diagnostic feature. 



Constituents. The fruits yield from 1-5 to 3-5 per cent, of volatile 

 oil (sp. gr. 0-975 to 0-990 ; O.K. -2 to + 1), of which anethol, present 

 to the extent of about 90 per cent., is the principal aromatic constituent. 

 Anethol, C 10 H 12 O, forms a white, crystalline solid melting at 22 ; it 

 has a strong anise odour. 



Varieties. Spanish, exported from Alicante ; the fruits are dis- 

 tinguished by their large size (4 mm.), grey or brownish grey colour, 

 and slender tapering shape ; they yield about 3 per cent, of oil. 



Russian fruits are smaller, darker, and rather more ovoid in shape ; 

 they are exported in very large quantities, and are the variety generally 

 used for distillation. 



Italian anise fruits are frequently contaminated with hemlock fruits, 

 which may be identified by their glabrous surface, by the irregularly 

 crenate ridges, by the absence of the pedicel, and (best of all) by the 

 deep groove in the endosperm. 



Note. Anise fruits are frequently adulterated with dried, sifted earth; 

 the ash should not exceed 11 per cent. ; in adulterated anise it may rise to 

 25 per cent. 



Uses. Anise is employed as an aromatic and carminative. 



EMBELIA 

 (Embelia) 



Source, &c. Embelia is the dried fruit of Embelia Ribes, Burmann 

 films, and also of Embelia robusta, Roxburgh (N.O. Myrsinece). The 

 former is a large climbing shrub abundant in the hilly parts of India, 

 and the latter a very common Indian shrub or small tree. 



Description. These plants produce large bunches of small fruits 

 which are collected when ripe and dried. They are then nearly 

 globular, about the size of a small pea and dull red or nearly black. 

 They are superior, minutely beaked and often attached to a 5-partite 

 calyx and slender pedicel. The commercial fruits are usually derived 

 from E. robusta and have a striated surface, those from E. Ribes 

 being warty or wrinkled and resembling black pepper (in which they 

 have actually been detected). Within the brittle pericarp is a single, 

 globular seed surrounded by a delicate membrane. The seed itself 

 is reddish, has a cavity at the base and is marked with lighter spots 

 which become fainter on long soaking in water and in which minute 

 crystals are visible under a strong lens. The endosperm is horny 



