a good quality as the Baltimore oil. Wirth has thoroughly oxatiinen s 
oil *). He followed the directions given by Schimmel & Co. ‘in. oe 3 
From 2 kg. of fruit, dried in sun or shade, 46 g., viz. 2 per cent. of oe pee. be a 
- distilled in 80 minutes. It had the following properties: — dys,560 0.9343, pro — 0.21% 
Npso 1.4690.. The oil was soluble in 16 parts of 70 per cent. alcohol. . sm 
This oil was again distilled in steam; the first 70 to 75 per. cent., and ne tast 4 
25 to 30 per cent. were collected in separate receivers. Two to three per cent. of a.m 
non-volatile resinous mass remained as residue. The two fractions had the following 2 
constants :— djs.550 0.9085 and 1.0002, @p,;. —12.89° and — 4.09°. a 
From the sun-dried seeds an oil was obtained which was separated into. three 
fractions under a pressure of 8 to 10 mm. 15t fraction, 55 to 05°, 35 per cent.; a 
dis.s60 0.9116; p50 —12.4; Npso 1.4885. 294 fraction, 65 to 79°, 14 per cent.; (6 Beets 0.949; f 
Ope0 — 1.493 Npwo 1.4860. 3°4 fraction, 80 to 102°, 45 per cent.; dis.s50.1.005; %p»590 — 3.169; — 
Npwo 1.4720. The 1St fraction contained p-cymene (p-isopropenylbenzoic acid m.p. 160°); — 
the sylvestrene reaction (devised by Schimmel & Co. for Baltimore oil)*). could not be 
obtained. Chiefly in the second, but also in the 1st fraction, d-camphor (semicarbazone, 
m. p. 237°) was identified; ascaridole was identified in the second fraction by the 
characteristic reaction described by Schimmel & Co. and Nelson®). From other samples ° 
of oils Wirth established that ascaridole was present to 42 £0 45 per cent. and cymene 
to 42 to 44 per cent. 
Hence the Western wormseed oil is distinguished from the Battin on by its small : 
ascaridole content and its high cymene content. Some time previously Schimmel & Co. 
had fractionated several oils with abnormal physical constants, from which they arrived ~ 
at these results: — Normal American oil (dis0 0.9708) contained 62 to 65 percent. ascaridole ~ 
and about 22 per cent. cymene; light oil (d\;. 0.9426) contained only 45 to 50 per cent. — 
and on the other hand 38 per cent. hydrocarbons’). 
ge pear eee reais re 
The investigations of chenopodium oil carried out by Schimmel & Co.*) and by : 
Nelson®) were continued by M. C. Hall and H. C. Hamilton’). They were unable to 
prove the presence in large amount of a constituent with constant boiling point. The @ 
boiling point steadily rose in distilling under reduced pressure. The first portions were 
slightly tinged, the last became darker and darker and had finally an odour of turpentine. ~ 
Whilst the ascaridole, apparently belonging to the less volatile constituents, irritated the 4 
alimentary canal, the more volatile constituents were less irritating but more anthel- 
mintic than ascaridole. | 
Ascaridole is, as we have proved’), the most important and effective constituen 
of the oil. ‘ | 
The American wormseed oils sent to our laboratory last nee year for examinati 0 
_were again, without exception, artificial products of the usual composition (eucalyptol. 
anethole, menthol, amylacetate). In addition the presence of citronellal was establi 
1) Journ. Americ. Pharm. Assoc. 9 (1920), 127. — *) Cf. Report April 1908, 112, — 4) Cf. Gildemei 
and Hoffmann, The Volatile Oils, 2-4 ed., vol. Il, p. 362. — +) Cf. Report April 1908, 114. — 5) Cf 
October 1911, 98. — 8) Journ. Pharm. and Exp. Therapeutics 11 (1918), 231. As per Chem. Z 
III. 1022.. — 7) Reports October 1906, 81; April 1907, 103; October 1907, 99; April 1908, 114; 
October 1910, 142; April 1911, 121. Cm se 
