50 Report of Schimmel § Co. April 1913. 



possessing the following constants: d 0,911, « D + 7°, n 1,4980. The oil contained 18 p. c. 

 of aldehydes (by the bisulphite method) and its odour was sweeter than that of ordinary 

 cumin oil. It did not appear to contain carvone. According to Holmes 1 ), Persian 

 cumin seed is known in Bombay as Zeerah Sidh, the ordinary seed from Cuminum 

 Cyminum being there known as Zeerah Suffed. The Persian fruit is probably derived 

 from Carum gracile, Lindl. (C. nigrum, Royle), of which Holmes gives an illustration 

 taken from a herbarium-specimen in the Botanical Museum of Cambridge. The seed 

 is also mentioned in Dymock's Materia Medica of Western India (Bombay and London, 

 1885, p. 368) by the name of Sajire or Siah-zirah. 



Among the few umbellifers of which the fruit has an odour of cumin is also 

 Psammogeton setifolium, Boiss., but its fruit differs clearly from both the Persian and 

 the ordinary cumin, hence this species cannot be regarded as the parent plant of the 

 seed in question. 



Sage 2 ) has studied the anatomical characters of the fruit of both varieties of 

 cumin. He publishes accurate illustrations both of the entire fruit and of the trans- 

 verse sections, which enable the drug to be clearly distinguished. 



For the quantitative estimation of cuminic aldehyde, comp. p. 45. 



Oil of Cydnus indicus. According to E. R. Watson 3 ) an evil-smelling Indian bug 

 (Cydnus indicus) exudes a fatty oil which contains about 1 ,5 p. c. of constituents volatile 

 with steam. These constituents are composed of an acid C 8 Hi4 2 , probably cycloheptane 

 carboxylic acid, and a small quantity of a non-acid compound which may possess the 

 empirical formula CiiH 2 o0 2 . The acid has a strong rancid odour; that of the non-acid 

 substance is more powerful still. 



Cypress Oil. This well-established whooping-cough remedy is being increasingly 

 appreciated among the medical faculty, both in Germany and abroad, hence the demand 

 has been very brisk indeed, especially during the cold months. We have been able 

 to replenish our stock in good time from our works at Barreme, in France, where we 

 are able to distil exquisite raw material in a quite fresh condition. Owing to the 

 particularly favourable conditions under which our manufacture is conducted, we have 

 lately been able to reduce our prices somewhat, but we specially warn our readers 

 against cypress oils which are being offered too cheaply, as the origin of these is 

 very doubtful, and they are generally without any medicinal virtue whatever. We shall 

 be glad to send printed matter upon application for distribution among medical prac- 

 titioners. 



In the year 1904 4 ), when we published the results of our examination of cypress 

 oil, we referred incidentally to two alcohols, one of which at the time we thought 

 ourselves warranted in describing as sabinol. Recently we have again taken up this 

 research, with the result that we discovered the principal constituent of the alcohol- 

 mixture (distilled between 70 and 85°, 3 to 4 mm.) to be an alcohol Ci Hi 8 O, = terpinenol-4, 

 a body of which we had previously detected the presence in European wormseed oil 5 ), 

 juniper-berry oil ) and nutmeg oil 7 ). The mixture was treated with pyridine and benzoyl- 

 chloride for the purpose of removing the esterifiable alcohols contained in it. The 



x ) Pe rf urn. and Esse nt. Oil Record 4 (1913), 49. — 2 ) Ibidem 46. — 3 ) Proceed. chem.Soc.29 (1913), 28. — 

 *) L'eport April 1901, 38; October 1904, 23. - 5 ) Report November 1908, 41. — 6 ) Report October 1909, 71. — 

 -') Report April 1910, 80. 



