﻿294 
  G. 
  L. 
  Goodale 
  — 
  Possibilities 
  of 
  Economic 
  Botany. 
  

  

  teenth 
  Century 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Jackson 
  of 
  the 
  Botanical 
  Museum 
  

   attached 
  to 
  the 
  Royal 
  Gardens, 
  Kew, 
  which 
  not 
  only 
  embodies 
  

   a 
  great 
  amount 
  of 
  well-arranged 
  information 
  relative 
  to 
  the 
  

   new 
  useful 
  plants, 
  but 
  is, 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  time, 
  a 
  record 
  of 
  the 
  

   existing 
  state 
  of 
  things 
  in 
  all 
  these 
  departments 
  of 
  activity. 
  

  

  VIII. 
  Fragrant 
  Plants. 
  

  

  Another 
  illustration 
  of 
  our 
  subject 
  might 
  be 
  drawn 
  from 
  a 
  

   class 
  of 
  plants 
  which 
  repays 
  close 
  study 
  from 
  a 
  biological 
  

   point 
  of 
  view, 
  namely, 
  those 
  which 
  yield 
  perfumes. 
  

  

  In 
  speaking 
  of 
  the 
  future 
  of 
  our 
  fragrant 
  plants 
  we 
  must 
  

   distinguish 
  between 
  those 
  of 
  commercial 
  value 
  and 
  those 
  of 
  

   purely 
  horticultural 
  interest. 
  The 
  former 
  will 
  be 
  less 
  and 
  less 
  

   cultivated 
  in 
  proportion 
  as 
  synthetic 
  chemistry 
  by 
  its 
  manu- 
  

   facture 
  of 
  perfumes 
  replaces 
  the 
  natural 
  by 
  the 
  artificial 
  pro- 
  

   ducts, 
  for 
  example, 
  Coumarin, 
  Vanillin, 
  Nerolin, 
  Heliotropin, 
  

   and 
  even 
  Oil 
  of 
  Wintergreen. 
  

  

  But 
  do 
  not 
  understand 
  me 
  as 
  intimating 
  that 
  Chemistry 
  

   can 
  ever 
  furnish 
  substitutes 
  for 
  living 
  fragrant 
  plants. 
  Our 
  

   gardens 
  will 
  always 
  be 
  sweetened 
  by 
  them, 
  and 
  the 
  possibilities 
  

   in 
  this 
  direction 
  will 
  continue 
  to 
  extend 
  both 
  by 
  contributions 
  

   from 
  abroad 
  and 
  by 
  improvement 
  in 
  our 
  present 
  cultivated 
  

   varieties. 
  Among 
  the 
  foreign 
  acquisitions 
  are 
  the 
  fragrant 
  

   species 
  of 
  Andropogon. 
  Who 
  would 
  suspect 
  that 
  the 
  tropical 
  

   relatives 
  of 
  our 
  sand-loving 
  grasses 
  are 
  of 
  high 
  commercial 
  

   value 
  as 
  sources 
  of 
  perfumery 
  oils? 
  

  

  The 
  utility 
  to 
  the 
  plant 
  of 
  fragrance 
  in 
  the 
  flower 
  and 
  the 
  

   relation 
  of 
  this 
  to 
  cross-fertilization, 
  are 
  apparent 
  to 
  even 
  a 
  

   casual 
  observer. 
  But 
  the 
  fragrance 
  of 
  an 
  aromatic 
  leaf 
  does 
  

   not 
  always 
  give 
  us 
  the 
  reason 
  for 
  its 
  being. 
  

  

  It 
  has 
  been 
  suggested 
  for 
  certain 
  cases 
  that 
  the 
  volatile 
  oils 
  

   escaping 
  from 
  the 
  plants 
  in 
  question 
  may, 
  by 
  absorption, 
  exert 
  

   a 
  direct 
  influence 
  in 
  mitigating 
  the 
  fierceness 
  of 
  action 
  of 
  the 
  

   sun's 
  rays. 
  Other 
  explanations 
  have 
  also 
  been 
  made, 
  some 
  of 
  

   which 
  are 
  even 
  more 
  fanciful 
  than 
  the 
  last. 
  

  

  When, 
  however, 
  one 
  has 
  seen 
  that 
  the 
  aromatic 
  plants 
  of 
  

   Australia 
  are 
  almost 
  free 
  from 
  attacks 
  of 
  insects 
  and 
  fungi, 
  

   and 
  has 
  learned 
  to 
  look 
  on 
  the 
  impregnating 
  substances 
  in 
  

   some 
  cases 
  as 
  protective 
  against 
  predatory 
  insects 
  and 
  small 
  

   foes 
  of 
  all 
  kinds, 
  and 
  in 
  others 
  as 
  fungicidal, 
  he 
  is 
  tempted 
  to 
  

   ask 
  whether 
  all 
  the 
  substances 
  of 
  marked 
  odor 
  which 
  we 
  find 
  

   in 
  certain 
  groups 
  of 
  plants 
  may 
  not 
  play 
  a 
  similar 
  role. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  a 
  fact 
  of 
  great 
  interest 
  to 
  the 
  surgeon 
  that 
  in 
  many 
  

   plants 
  there 
  is 
  associated 
  with 
  the 
  fragrant 
  principle 
  a 
  marked 
  

   antiseptic 
  or 
  fungicidal 
  quality 
  ; 
  conspicuous 
  examples 
  of 
  this 
  

   are 
  afforded 
  by 
  species 
  of 
  Eucalyptus, 
  yielding 
  Eucalyptol, 
  

   JStyrax, 
  yielding 
  Styrone, 
  Thymus 
  yielding 
  Thymol. 
  It 
  is 
  inter- 
  

  

  