Commercial and scientific notes on essential oils. 83 



in India from seeds of the Chenopodium ambrosioides type yielded oils of varying efficacity. 

 Whereas American oils are only lasvorotatory (a — 2° 49' to —8° 50', we have observed 

 — 4° to —8° 50') the Indian oils had a rotatory power of from —2.34° to + 0.50 01 ). 

 100 kilos of fresh herb, grown by the author in Amsterdam, yielded on distillation 

 5 grams of oil. After having been rectified in vacuo at 48° (55 mm.)? its index of 

 rotation was a + 0.74°. By extraction with ether, van der Wielen obtained from Indian 

 (Atjeh) chenopodium seeds an oil, the rotation of which was «-j-1.05°. These experi- 

 ments confirm Wirth's assertion that the rotation to the left increases if the oil is 

 heated for some time 2 ). Van der Wielen therefore thinks it probable that an oil of 

 Chenopodium ambrosioides, var. suffruticosum, Willd., obtained without heating to a higher 

 temperature, would be dextrorotatory or inactive, but not laevogyrate 3 ). 



The author further calls attention to the fact that other physical properties of the 

 oil likewise alter on heating. The specific gravity decreases, the index of refraction 

 rises and the solubility in alcohol and acetic acid is lessened. The above-mentioned 

 extracted oil of Atjeh seeds, for instance, had the following constants: d 180 1.008, 

 n D iso 1.4735, soluble in 5.5 vols, of 60 per cent, acetic acid. As these constants resemble 

 those of ascaridole rather much, and as^-cymene occurs in chenopodium oil, the authors 

 opinion is that on heating the oil ascaridole is transformed into ^-cymene, hydrogen 

 being split off. The explosion-like decomposition of ascaridole when heated, noticed 

 by Kremers, is supposed to support this theory. 



Through experiments with animals, M. C. Hall and H. C. Hamilton 4 ) have proved 

 that the lower-boiling fractions of American wormseed oil have the same vermifugal 

 efficacity as the higher-boiling constituents, without possessing the dangerous by- 

 effects as cause inflammation and bleeding of the intestines. Tijssen 5 ) was able to 

 confirm these observations through clinical experiments. He prepared by distillation 

 of an (Indian ?) chenopodium oil (d 0.968) a fraction of the specific gravity of 0.951 

 and a residue of d 1.04. Both preparations were administered to patients suffering 

 from hook-worm disease. In the first experiment the lower-boiling fraction resulted 

 to be very efficacious, the higher-boiling one not. Later experiments had not quite 

 the same result. Distillates free from ascaridole, administered three times in doses of 

 16 drops each, ejected 77 per cent, of the hook-worms, whereas the fractions containing 

 ascaridole, given in the same quantities, destroyed 81 per cent, of the worms. The 

 effect on ascaridas was the same with either fraction. 



According to van der Wielen the action of the different fractions on isolated 

 intestinal worms ought to be determined, in order to refute the opinion now prevailing 

 that oils of higher specific gravity are to be preferred to those of lesser density. 

 Furthermore only the innocuous lower-boiling fractions of the oil ought to be used 

 as remedies. The supposition would be very natural that the chief component of the 

 lower boiling fractions, p-cymene, possessed the vermifugal properties 6 ). 



In the meantime another publication by Henry and H. Paget 7 ) has appeared, in 

 which they experimentally refute van der Wielen's above opinion. The authors examined 

 Hall and Hamilton's assertion (see above) that not the ascaridole but the lower-boiling 



*) Cf. also the article of Henry and Paget, mentioned before, and Bericht 1921, 15. — 2 ) Journ. Americ. 

 Phann. Assoc. 9 (1920), 127; Bericht 1920, 61. We made the same observation many years ago. Cf. Report 

 April 1908, 169. Cf. also Gildemeister and Hoffmann, The Volatile Oils, 2 nd edition, vol. II, p. 360. — 3 ) This 

 seems to be too hasty a conclusion. — 4 ) Journ. of Pharm. and Exp. Therap. 11 (1918), 231. — 5 ) Gen. 

 Tijdschr. voor Xed. Ind., Afl. 1, Deel 61, 1921. — 8 ) Taking into consideration what other observers have 

 stated, this judgment also seems a little hasty. — ') Pharmaceutical Journ. 107 (1921), 349. As per Pharm. 

 Ztg. 9i (]922), 126. 



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