48 Report of Schimmel 8} Co. 1921. 



and titration of the iodine liberated. A control test with unadulterated oil is performed 

 -at the same time. According to the author the method is based upon the determination 

 of the pinene contents of the sample. We should say that this purely-empirical method 

 can never give reliable values and should be regarded with caution. 



According to Lodemann 1 ) symptoms of real poisoning by oil of turpentine were 

 observed in one case. The patient swallowed by mistake a large draught of oil of 

 turpentine in the morning; he complained first of headaches; by noon he suffered 

 from drowsiness and dizziness and fell into a state of heavy intoxication; convulsions 

 and pains in the rectum followed in the next two nights, and the complete restoration 

 of the patient required 8 days. 



As regards Spanish oil of turpentine see page 74 of this Report. 



Vetiver Oil. — As regards vetiver oil from the Philippines see page 85 of this Report. 



Wintergreen Oil.— Wintergreen oil, sweet birch oil or synthetic methylsalicylate 

 can, according to Power 2 ), be identified in the following way: — Pour 1 cc. of the oil 

 under test with 10 cc. of caustic soda of 5 per cent, into a test tube 3 ). When the 

 mixture is shaken a massive white crystalline precipitate will appear and will vanish 

 again when the test tube, loosely corked, is held for five minutes in boiling water. 

 We then obtain a clear, colourless or faintly-yellow solution in which there should not 

 be any separation of oily drops, neither on the surface, nor on the bottom of the test 

 tube. That observation proves the absence of other essential oils or of petroleum. 

 When the liquid is diluted with the threefold bulk of water and a slight excess of 

 hydrochloric acid is added, a white crystalline precipitate will form which, collected 

 on a filter, washed with a little water and recrystallised from hot water, will give the 

 reactions characteristic of salicylic acid (absence of methyl benzoate, $c.). 



Ch. H. La Wall 4 ) reviews the identity-reactions of the literature on methyl salicylate, 

 gaultheria and Sweet Birch oil. Whilst methyl salicylate, being a synthetic product, comes 

 into the trade in a high state of purity, the gaultheria oil contains up to 99 per cent, 

 of this ester and in the rest a paraffin, an aldehyde, a ketone 5 ), an alcohol and an 

 ester. Sweet birch oil consists of up to 99.5 per cent, of methyl salicylate and, in the 

 rest, of a paraffin and an ester, but contains neither alcohol nor aldehyde. These slight 

 differences are decisive for a few colour reactions, by means of which unmixed products 

 may be distinguished from one another under certain conditions. This is, for instance, 

 possible by means of the test of Umney 6 ), and also by means of a reaction, quoted 

 by the author, which is based upon the determination of furfuraldehyde by means of 

 aniline acetate: — Gaultheria oil is at once coloured an intense red by means of aniline 

 acetate; sweet birch oil gives a pronounced reddish colour only after some time, and 

 methyl salicylate remains colourless. If we have to deal with mixtures, on the other 

 hand, it will be impossible to arrive at any reliable results by means of these colour 

 reactions. The methods proposed by Stanislaus and Semmel (1913) and by Watson 

 and Sayre (1914), which are based upon the colours produced by nitric acid, sulphuric 



J ) Med. Klinlk 1920, No. 13. Pharm. Ztg. 65 (1920), 511. — *) The Western Druggist, Febr. 1917; from 

 Deutsche Parf. Ztg. 6 (1920), 208. — 3 ) On former occasions Power and Kleber had used caustic potash which 

 forms a readily soluble ester salt with the ethyl salicylate; see Pharm. Rundschau (New York) 13 (1895), 228. 

 Gildemeister and Hoffmann, The Volatile Oils, 2 nd ed., vol. Ill, p. 388. — 4 ) Amer. Jourm. Pharm. 92 (1920), 891. 

 — 5 ) According to Power and Kleber gaultheria oil contains either an aldehyde or a ketone. Cf. Gildemeister 

 and Hoffmann, loc. cit. vol. Ill, p. 389. 8 ) Cf. Report April 1914, 98. 



