— 42 — 



not too far removed from the distilling plant, is at our disposal. It is to 

 be recorded that several competing firms have lately brought this favour- 

 able remedy for whooping-cough into great discredit, because in various 

 quarters attempts have been made to place upon the market qualities so 

 inferior that they cannot be of any medicinal value. In the general 

 interest, we particularly desire to warn our friends against these "cheap" 

 cypress oils. 



Dill Oil. We are expecting at an early date a considerable quantity 

 of European seed of the present season, and hope to be in a position 

 soon to supply freshly-distilled oil. The oil obtained from Indian seed 

 deviates in its properties from the normal, and, notwithstanding its cheapness, 

 cannot be regarded as a substitute for our quality. 



Dutch Myrtle Oil. Oil of Dutch Myrtle, concerning which so far 

 very little was known, has recently been examined by Laloue 1 ). Its parent- 

 plant (Myrica Gale L, Myricaceas), of which the leaves were formerly 

 official in France under the designation of Herba Myrti brabantini } grows 

 in that country, as in Germany, in marshy localities, and is of fairly fre- 

 quent occurrence. The author obtained from the green herb a yield of 

 0,0369° o of a greenish-yellow oil with an odour reminding of myrtle and 

 possessing the following constants: d 25 o 0,8984, « D20 o — 5° 16', soluble in 

 one half its volume of 90°/o alcohol, the solution becoming turbid when 

 5 vols, or more are added, insoluble in 80°/o alcohol, acid no. 3,48, 

 ester no. 15,5, ester no. after acet. 50,23. When cooled the oil turns tur- 

 bid at + 5°; it congeals at — 17°. Chevalier 2 ) has investigated the pharma- 

 cological action of the oil and found it to possess rather pronounced 

 toxic properties; hence the employment of the leaves of Myrica Gale as 

 an emmenagogue and abortive (for which purposes it is used in Western 

 France), is not without danger. In the case of guinea-pigs a dose of 1 cc. 

 per 1 kilo weight of the animal proved fatal on intraperitoneal admini- 

 stration; a dog died after a dose of 12 g. per 1 kilo weight under symptoms 

 of total paralysis. 



Essential Oils, Sicilian and Calabrian. 



We are again indebted to our friend Mr. Eduardo Jacob, of Messina, 

 for an interesting report dated 2 nd September, which we translate in full, 

 in accordance with our usual practice: — 



Generally speaking it is to be noted that during the period under 

 review the transactions in essential oils kept the even tenor of their 

 way, no special events of any kind occurring to disturb them. Unfortu- 



*) Berichte von Roure-Bertrand Fils, April 1910, 61. 



-) Bull. d. Sciences pharmacol. 68 (1910), 738. From a reprint kindly sent to 



