— 104 — 



to the artificial fruit essences (esters of certain fatty acids). In this 

 connection it is curious that peach"oil" does not take its place among 

 the "fruit oils", but on the contrary shows the isotoxic value of benzal- 

 dehyde, whilst on the other hand cognac oil, natural and artificial, 

 figure at the other end of the series with 0,28 and 0,22 respectively. 

 In the case of bitter almond oil, it might not be altogether unim- 

 portant, whether it is used free or not from hydrocyanic acid. It 

 appears questionable whether this method is suitable as a method of 

 determination, in view of the frequently extremely minute quantities 

 of essential oils in liqueurs, especially when it is taken into consider- 

 ation that in the majority of liqueurs it is a question of mixtures of 

 essential oils. 



Galewsky 1 ) recently observed a case, in which a lady suffered 

 from inflammation with red spots like nettle-rash, accompanied by 

 severe itching, on the parts of the neck which were not covered by 

 the dress, and which was clearly due to the fact that she had been 

 staying in a room which was decorated with eucalyptus shrubs. 

 The same eruption appeared already after half an hour in a girl who 

 had rubbed the shrubs on the skin. 



Phyto-physiological notes. 



In a previous work Charabot and Hebert 2 ) have studied the 

 influence exerted by the development of the inflorescences on the 

 essential oil of the green organs of sweet basil (Oczmum basilicum), 

 and a recent communication of the same authors 3 ) deals with the 

 effect of the blossoms which perform their function, on the odoriferous 

 substances. 



A bed of sweet basils was divided in two parts, of which one 

 contained the experimental plants, and the other the control plants. 

 From the former, the newly formed inflorescences were from the 

 commencement of the flowering season removed every day and weighed, 

 and extracted with petroleum ether, in order to determine the total 

 quantity of essential oil produced. At the commencement of the experi- 

 ments, a trial cut was made, and the state of development of the 

 plants, their oil-content, and the composition of the oil determined. 

 When the fructification was completed, the control plants were cut, 

 and the green parts distilled and the inflorescences extracted with 

 petroleum ether. The extract was then submitted to distillation with 

 water vapour. On the same day the experimental plants were also 

 distilled, and the same took place with the extract obtained during 



x ) Dermatol. Zeitschr. 1905 No. 1 ; According to Pharm, Centralh. 46 (1905), 968. 

 8 ) Compt. rend. 138 (1904), 380; Bull. Soc. Chim. III. 31 (1904), 402. 

 n ) Compt. rend. 141 (1905), 772; Bull. Soc. Chim. III. 33 (1905), 11,21. 



