80 Report of Schimmel § Co. 1922. 



distilled both in the fresh flowering and in the dry condition, and also at different 

 stages of growth. A number of the oils obtained were subsequently examined in the 

 laboratory and compared from the standpoint of their physical and chemical properties. 

 The conditions of distillation in every instance were identical. The yields of oil from 

 the fresh flowering herb varied with the climatic conditions from year to year, oscillating 

 in the period from 1907 to 1919 between 0.12 and 0.24 per cent. The greater the 

 number of clear and partly cloudy days, the greater was the tendency of the plant 

 to high yields of oil, whereas high rainfall and low temperature apparently tended 

 toward low content of oil. The oils distilled from the dry plants were uniformly darker 

 in colour and stronger in odour. They had a higher ester content (thujyl acetate 35 

 and 27.3 per cent.) than the ordinary oil (thujyl acetate 32.2 and 24.1 per cent). It 

 seems therefore that drying favours the formation of ester 1 ). The maximum yield of 

 oil was attained during the budding and flowering period. There was a decided 

 decrease in the fruiting stage of the plant (in 1910: — from 0.20 to 0.08 per cent). 

 The content of free acids (as acetic) and of thujyl alcohol decreased as the plant 

 passed from the budding to the fruiting stage. 



Wintergreen Oil. — We would briefly mention two wintergreen oils received 

 from Java (doubtless from Gaultheria punctata, Blume), as such distillates are found 

 in commerce from time to time. They were colourless and behaved, as regards odour 

 and constants, very much like the Indian oil or the same botanical origin, described 

 by us some time ago 2 ): — d 150 1.1873 and 1.1861, « D +0 o , n D20 o 1.53639, acid v. 5.4 

 and 4.8, ester v. 364.9 (= 99 per cent, of methyl salicylate) and 356.6 (= 96.8 per cent, of 

 methyl salicylate), soluble in 7 and 8 volumes, respectively, or more of 70 per cent, alcohol. 



These oils differ from the American distillate of Gaultheria procumbens, L, in that 

 they are optically inactive; besides, their aroma is not so fine. 



Indian Wintergreen oil. — According to Puran Singh 3 ), the fresh leaves of Gaul- 

 theria fragrantissima, Wall., collected in Assam during the winter, gave .as much as 

 0.65 per cent, of oil, or 1.2 per cent, calculated on dry material. The Nilgiri plant 

 gave only 0.12 per cent, of oil from fresh leaves. The plant grows gregariously in 

 the Nilgiris, in Assam and Ceylon, but for a regular supply of the leaves it would be 

 necessary to cultivate it on an extensive scale. 



Wormseed Oil. — The demand seems to increase in the Dutch Indies too. As 

 the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in New York 4 ) communicates, considerably larger 

 quantities of wormseed oil were produced in 1920, mostly in plantations connected 

 with the cultivations of the Government. Nevertheless the home production was not 

 large enough to satisfy the demand. 



As so much attention has recently been paid to the East Indian wormseed oil 5 ), 

 a sample originating from Java was very welcome, as it gave us an opportunity of 

 getting acquainted with that product. The following constants were observed, di 5 o 0.9662, 

 «d + 0° 4 \ n D20O 1.47867, acid v. 0.9, ester v. 9.8, soluble in 5.8 vols, and more of 

 70 per cent, alcohol, there being a slight turbidity in the beginning. The odour differed 

 somewhat from that of the American oil, the smell of ascaridole being less strong. 



x ) It must be taken into consideration, however, that the volatile constituents escape during the drying 

 process. — '-') Report October 1911, 97. — 3 ) Per fum. Record 12 (1921), 51. — *) Holland and her Colonies 

 1 (1921), No. 7, page 15. — 5 ) Comp. Berichte (German) 1920, 59; 1921, 15. 



