70 REPORT OF SCHIMMEL & Co. OCTOBER 1915. 
of volatile oils with high oxygen and terpene contents on insects and found that flies, 
gnats, butterflies, moths, spiders and leaf lice were quickly asphyxiated by turpentine 
oil and pine tar oil vapours. The author had no body lice at hand, but he thinks 
that they would die at least as quickly as leaf lice. Rabe sees an explanation of the 
quick killing action of turpentine oil in that the terpene vapours absorb the oxygen 
of the surrounding air, thus creating an atmosphere lacking in oxygen, in which the 
insects are suffocated. In this we cannot share the author’s opinion, but rather believe © 
in a toxic action of turpentine oil, as long as it has not been proved by experiments 
that lice perish quickly in an atmosphere devoid of oxygen. Marschalko’s observation 
that lice perish within from 10 to 15 minutes in a test tube, into which a small drop 
of turpentine oil has been put under cotton wool, agrees with Rabe’s conjecture. 
Incitement of the smelling organs through aromatics. 
Weiss!) states, in an article recently published, on the olfactive organ and its 
development, that aromatics incite the smelling organs by their chemical action’). They 
must be gaseous, the mucous membranes of the nose must be moist, and a current 
of air must pass over them. The more intense the current of air, the more distinct 
the perception of odour. When keeping the breath or respiring through the mouth 
there is no such perception. Some substances still act in very considerable dilution, 
e.g. bromine sta, musk sc559, chlorophenol zg55q09, mercaptane gg5q59009) iodoform — 
0000600000 mg. per 1 cc. of air. Sharp and pungent smells (chlorine, acetic acid) do 
not affect the olfactive sense, but that of touch. 
Acuteness of the smelling power of the dog. 
In the perception of most of the pure aromatics the human being outrivals the 
dog, whereas the dog is far ahead of man when mixtures of aromatics of animal 
origin are concerned, as L. Seffrin®) has found out by experiments. The smallest 
quantities perceived by the dog were: ether = 0.001 to 0.0009; methyl salicylate = 0.0033 
to 0.0028; formaldehyde = 0.002 to 0.001; anisaldehyde = 0.0006 to 0.0005; xylene = 
0.00055 to 0.0005; urine of a she-dog = 0.025 to 0.05 and expressed beef juice = 0.0025 
to 0.002 g. 
It is not mentioned in the abstract, how the experiments were carried out but the 
reader is referred to the original. 
Use of artificial camphor for therapeutical purposes. 
During the period which this Report covers, it has been reported again from various 
quarters on the use of artificial camphor in medical practice*). In general, the results 
are very favourable and it seems that artificial camphor can perfectly replace the . 
genuine article in therapeutics. Bachem experimented with animals, whereas Levy and 
Wolff report on clinical experiments, when the entire camphor action was obtained 
with the artificial product. Unpleasant by-effects were not noticed. Lutz made similar 
favourable experiences. . 
1) Deutsche Parf.-Ztg. 1 (1915), 77. — 2) Comp. Teudt, who explains the manifestations of the sense of 
smell by assuming them to be due to the oscillations of electrones within the molecules or atoms. Report 
April 1914, 123. — 3) Zeitschr. f. Biologie 6 (1915), 493; Chem. Zentralbl. 1915, Il. 416. — 4) C. Bachem, | q 
Med. Klinik 1915, 425; Apotheker Ztg. 80 (1915), 214. — M. Levy und W. Wolff, Ther. d. Gegenw. 1915, 88; 
Therap. Monatsh. 29 (1915), 262. — C. Lutz, Berl. klin. Wochenschr. 52 (1915), 322; Chem. Zentralbl. 1915, 1. 
1329. Comp. Report April 1915, 76. 
