_ 9 8 - 



possible adulteration of the natural product with synthetic ester. Dodge 

 was able to determine that the latter always contains phenol, although 

 the quantity of the latter is often very minute. 



Wormwood Oil. As already mentioned by us in our last 

 Report 1 ), the French Government has started a very energetic campaign 

 against the consumption of absinthe. Sangle-Ferriere and Cuniasse 2 ) 

 have also entered the arena, and oppose the frequently expressed 

 wrong opinion that the injurious character of this liqueur can be judged 

 from the occurrence of a more or less severe turbidity when a 

 definite quantity of water is added. 



The authors examined the essential oils used in the manufacture 

 of absinthe for their behaviour towards water. Each of the oils was 

 dissolved in 70 per cent, alcohol in the proportion of 3 g. per litre, 

 and to this solution 2 / 3 of its volume distilled water was added. 

 The turbidity numbers determined with the help of a diaphanometer, 

 were for the individual oils as follows: wormwood oil 40,4; oil of 

 tansy 53,0; hyssop oil 34,0; coriander oil 34,0; fennel oil 12,0; star 

 anise oil 3,4; anise oil 2,2. The numbers indicate the height in milli- 

 metres at which the finest lines of the diaphanometer screen can no 

 longer be distinguished. From these results it is quite clear that the 

 occurrence of turbidity when water is added, not only can be no 

 criterion for the injurious character of the oil in question, but on 

 the contrary, in the conclusions drawn from it up to the present, 

 directly reverses the actual conditions. The strongest turbidity was 

 caused by the comparatively harmless and non - poisonous spice oils, 

 e. g.j anise oil, star -anise oil, and fennel oil, which on the strength 

 of the turbidity method should be taken as the most injurious ones; 

 in the case of the most strongly toxic thuj one- containing oils, worm- 

 wood oil and oil of tansy, whose total quantity represented only 1 / 5 

 to 1 / 6 of the oil-content of absinthe, the turbidity was the most feeble. 

 In the place of this purely arbitrary "method" which misrepresents 

 the actual facts, the authors propose that the total oil-content of the 

 liqueur be determined and a test be made for the presence of thujone. 



With regard to the cultivation of the plants employed for the 

 production of absinthe, Roure-Bertrand Fils 3 ) give some inform- 

 ation, with suitable illustrations, for which J. Boyer has supplied the 

 material. The following plants come under consideration for the 

 absinthe industry: the common wormwood {Artemisia Absinthium), 

 small-sized wormwood {Artemisia flonlica), hyssop {Hyssopus officinalis), 

 and balm {Melissa officinalis). Whilst common wormwood serves to 



x ) Report April 1907, 103. 



2 ) Journ. de Pharm. et Chim. VI. 25 (1907), 428. 



3 ) Bericht Roure-Bertrand Fils, April 1907, 43. 



