42 



Report of Schimmel § Co. 1921. 



to year to gather the wood; yet the manufacture of the oil has been resumed in the 

 hope that the British Pharmacopoeia will recognise the product which could then find 

 medicinal use outside Australia. 



Savin Oil. — It has been pointed out from various sides some years ago already 1 ) 

 that the oil of Juniperus phoenicea is frequently offered in the south of France as 

 genuine sabine bush oil (from Juniperus sabina, L.). Owing to the great resemblance 

 between the two shrubs, this is probably ignorance rather than fraudulent intent. The 

 same thing seems to occur in Spain; at any rate we were offered last year several 

 sabine bush oils from Spain which in reality had nothing to do with this particular 

 oil and which to all appearance had been distilled from Juniperus phoenicea, as the 

 following comparative table will render clear: — 











Oil of Juniperus phoenicea 







I 



Sample 

 II 



III 



observed by 

 Rodie and by Umney and 

 Schimmel 8j Co. Bennett 



Savin oil 



diso . . . 



0.8681 



0.8800 



0.8822 



0.863 to 0.872 



0.892 



0.907 to 0.930 



«D • • • • 



+ 1°54' 



+ 1°47' 



+ 0°45' 



+2°to+7°20' 



+ 4° 30' 



+ 38° to +62° 



Acid v. . . 



0.3 



0.6 



1.2 



— 



— 



up to 3 



Ester v. . . 



8.4 



14.5 



18.7 



to 2.1 



26 



101 to 138 



Acid v. after 1 

 acetylation J 



9.3 



42.5 



— 



4.7 to 11 



60 



127 to 154 



Solubility in \ 

 90 per. cent. \ 

 alcohol ) 



6vol. and 

 more 



3 vol. and 

 more 



4vol. and 

 more 



5 to 6.5 vol. and 

 more 





0.5 vol. and 

 more 



Oil I. was said to have been prepared from the fruit. We are rather inclined to 

 doubt that and believe that we had in all the three cases to deal with the distillate 

 from the tips of the twigs of Juniperus phoenicea. We should add that the oils indicated 

 a constitution different from sabine bush oil also by their scent; in this respect they 

 resembled oil of turpentine and oil of juniper berries to a certain extent. 



What we have said will make it advisable to be cautions in buying Spanish, as 

 well as French savin oils. 



As regards Spanish savin oils, see page 75 of this Report. 



Oil from the Fruit of Selinum Monnieri. — From the fruit of Selinum Monnieri, L., 



an umbellifera which grows in China under the name of she-chuang-tzu and which 

 is used as aphrodisiac and sedative, Manzo Nakao 2 ) obtained by steam distillation 

 1.3 per cent, of a light yellow essential oil, smelling of oil of turpentine and of the 

 following constants: — di5 0.896; [«] D — 42.7°; acid v. 1.63, sap. v. 23.62, sap. v. after 

 acetyl. 51.35. Three fractions of the oil were separated:— 154 to 157°, (|>] D — 55.42°, 

 containing \-pinene as proved by the hydrochloride and nitrosylchloride) 3 ); 157 to 160°, 

 (Wd— 53.4°, containing camplieneY)\ and 200 to 250°, ([«] D — 33.14°, containing an 

 ester [sap. v. 229] consisting of \-borneol and isovaleric acid)) phellandrene, cineole and 

 terpineol could not be found. 



l ) Cf. Gildemeister and Hoffmann, The Volatile Oils, 2 nd ed., vol. II, p. 175. Report April 1906, 61 ; 

 April 1907, 93. — 2 ) Yakugakuzasshi 462 (1920); from Journ. de Pharm. et Chim. VII. 23 (1921), 141. — 

 3 ) The constants of these compounds are not stated. — 4 ) It is not stated how camphene was identified. 



