102 



but such differences may be due to the source of supply and the 

 manner of distillation. Parry and Bennett hope at some future 

 time to give further details on this oil. 



Vetiver Oil. In one of our previous Reports 1 ) we discussed 

 a vetiver oil originating from German East Africa, which we had 

 received from the Imperial Biologico -Agricultural Institute at Amani. 

 The oil proved to be a normal product, but it showed differences as 

 compared with distillates produced in Germany, which we attributed 

 solely to the distillation-material. We have now, however, convinced 

 ourselves that the differences must also be due to the method of 

 distillation. The Director of the Botanical Department of the above- 

 mentioned Institute, Professor Zimmermann, was kind enough to 

 send us vetiver roots which we have distilled here ourselves. The oil 

 obtained in a yield of 2,2 °/ had a brown colour and powerful odour; 

 d 15 o 1,0166; a D~[-36 35'; acid no. 40,0; ester no. 22,8; soluble in 

 1 to 1,5 and more vol. 80 per cent, alcohol. 



These results show that the East African vetiver root yields a 

 useful oil which is equal in value to the products obtained in Germany 

 from roots of a different origin. 



Wintergreen Oil. Owing to the new Food and Drugs Act 

 (see Introduction) which has come into force in the United States, 

 the use of the natural oil has lately been taken up again more largely 

 in that country, whereas up to the present the artificial oil had been 

 chiefly employed for flavouring, as the latter possessed in the first 

 place the great advantage of cheapness. Owing to the demand, the 

 quotations of the genuine oil have advanced considerably, a fact which 

 was bound to find expression in our price-lists. 



Wormseed Oil, American. In our last Report 2 ) we ment- 

 ioned already that on the strength of extensive pharmacological 

 studies by H. Briining, the American or Baltimore wormseed oil 

 has been proved to be an anthelmintic at least equal in value to 

 santonin, and that the body C 10 H 16 O 2 found by us in wormseed oil 

 is probably the active constituent of this oil. Briining 3 ) now has 

 determined the physiological action of wormseed oil on various living 

 beings, and also its action on blood, raw cow's milk, solutions of 

 egg-albumin, and bacteria cultures. 



The deadly dose for frogs is 0,5 cc. oil per kilogr. body weight; 

 fish die within 12 hours with a dilution of the oil to 1:8000; for 

 guinea pigs the fatal dose is 0,6 cc. per kilogr. weight, for hens 0,5 cc. 

 oil per kilogr. weight. In dogs 0,2 cc. oil per kilogr. body weight, when 



1 ) Report April 1905, 84. 



2 ) Report October 1906, 81. 



3 ) Ztschr. f. exp. Pathol, u. Therap. 3 (1906), 564. 



