16 Report of Schimmel 8j Co. April/ October 1917. 



nervous disorders and women's diseases and which Sakei 1 ) has investigated as to 

 its components. The most important one is a volatile oil, of which it contains 

 0.82 per cent. It has a brownish -yellow colour, a striking smell and a bitter taste; 

 d 1.030 to 1.040. It is soluble in alcohol, insoluble in water, shows la?vorotation and 

 contains an unsaturated acid Ci 2 Hi 9 3 (?), an alcohol Ci Hi 8 O 3 , and a lactone (?) 

 C 12 H 18 2 . 



The effect of the oil consists in an increase of the blood pressure by means of 

 stimulating the vaso-constrictors. It also stimulates the central nervous system. It 

 does not attack the kidneys, but apparently produces haemolysis, when abundantly used. 



Elecampane Oil. Concerning the cultivation of elecampane, see page 110. 



Essential Oils, Sicilian and Calabrian. 



Bergamot Oil. It is easily explicable why just now such volatile oils should be 

 subject to adulteration which only occur rarely in trade or are wholly exhausted. 

 Bergamot oil belongs to this class; the few samples which were submitted to our 

 inspection were nearly all adulterated and we cannot deny ourselves the satisfaction 

 of giving a selection in detail, in order to show partly at least what the quality of 

 this product is now. 



A sample from Messina which had been sent us from Switzerland showed the 

 following characteristics: di 5 o 0.8761; « D + 28°; acid v. 2.7; ester v. 70.0 = 24.5 per cent, 

 ester, calculated as linalyl acetate. The constants prove quite alone that the oil was 

 an inferior, adulterated product. The specific gravity is too low, the degree of rotation 

 much too high and the ester content, which in a good trade sample ought not to be 

 under 34 per cent., quite insufficient. The high rotation indicates an admixture of 

 lemon oil. 



Two other specimens were of such quality that one hardly realized if they were 

 adulterated oils or artificial products. One of them showed the following characteristics: 

 dwo 0.8866; « D + 15°; residue on evaporation 6 per cent, (liquid!); acid v. 0.9; ester 

 v. 59.7 = 20.9 percent, ester calculated as linalyl acetate; soluble in 1 vol. and more 

 of 80 per cent, alcohol. In this case also the much too low ester-content immediately 

 characterized the oil as quite inferior. Strange to say that the oil in spite of its low 

 ester-content dissolves surprisingly well in alcohol, as the majority of bergamot oils 

 do not give a clear solution in 80 percent, alcohol, and even in the case of the oils 

 that are soluble in it the diluted solution is nearly always turbid; this is all the more 

 to be expected from an oil with a low ester content. Another anomaly- finds its 

 expression in the quality of the residue on evaporation which in this case is liquid, 

 whereas it ought really to be of a butter-like consistency. All these facts lead to 

 suspect that it is not the case of a natural oil at all, but that of an unsuccessful 

 artificial product. The same holds good of a second sample which gave the following 

 constants: d 150 0.8864; « D +15°46'; acid v. 3.7; ester v. 110.1; saponification number 

 113.8; acid v. II 2 ) 63.5; difference between saponification v. and acid v. II 50.3; residue 

 on evaporation 19.3 per cent. 



x ) Mitt. d. med. Ges&llschaft zu Tokio 1916, 358 (N° 6); Schweiz. ApotheTcer Ztg. 55 (1917), 226. — a ) Comp. 

 Gildemeister und Hoffmann, Die dtherischen Ole, 2 nd ed., vol. Ill, p. 75—77; Report October 1910, 61. 



