Notes on scientific research. 133 



As expectorants: oils of aniseed, star-anise, sage, eucalyptus, burnet-saxifrage, 

 turpentine and cypress. 



As stimulants: oils of cajuput, rosemary and valerian. 



As nervine: oil of valerian. 



As anthelminthics: oils of cajuput, semencine, wormseed fchenopodiumj, male fern, 

 eucalyptus and laurel. 



As diuretics: oils of angelica, lovage, parsley, sassafras, turpentine, copaiba and 

 sandalwood. 



Against gonorrhoea: oils of copaiba, sandalwood, cubebs and matico. 



Against nocturnal perspiration: oil of sage. 



As sudorific: oil of sassafras. 



As antispasmodic: oil of melissa. 



Against bleeding of the womb: oil of cinnamon. 



Against itch: oil of rosemary. 



As to the -other aromatics in pharmacy, apart from the plants yielding essential 

 oils, there are resins, balms, animal drugs, and some isolated and artificial aromatics. 



Benzoin, myrrh and olibanum are used no longer for fuming the sick-rooms, but 

 benzoin and myrrh, mostly in the form of tinctures, are used in dentifrices and cos- 

 metic lotions. 



Balsam of Peru is still frequently used for different purposes; balsam of Tolu, in 

 a lesser degree. 



Musk was formerly in repute as a powerful excitant, in many cases the last 

 remedy given to dying people, in order to maintain or bring back consciousness for 

 a short time. Experimental pharmacological investigations, however, have not confirmed 

 such an action. 



As to synthetics, and aromatics isolated from essential oils, the following are 

 employed: methyl salicylate (as artificial wintergreen oil), benzyl benzoate (as artificial 

 balsam of Peru), coumarin, heliotropin and vanillin, in order to improve odour and 

 taste, menthol as lenitive, anaesthetic and antiseptic in dentifrices, as menthol crayons, 

 as ointment against cold, itching of the skin, §c. Thymol is used as an antiseptic 

 and against worms. 



Anselmino considers it to be doubtful whether fresh spheres of use may be found 

 for aromatics through systematic investigation. 



Volatile compounds of urine. — Some time ago, we reported about a volatile com- 

 pound of human urine to which W. M. Dehn and F. A. Hartman 1 ) applied the term 

 urinod and declared it to be probably identical with 3-q/dohexenone-l. Their sup- 

 position seems to have been erroneous, as R. J. Anderson 2 ) who has also investigated 

 volatile urine compounds believes that he has demonstrated that urinod is a mixture 

 of a neutral substance (C 7 Hi 2 0?) with p-cresol. 



From cow's urine, he isolated by means of distillation with sulphuric acid a com- 

 pound CioHieO, isomeric to camphor and boiling at 102° (1 mm). When heated it 

 reduces a solution of silver in ammonia, decolorizes a solution of permanganate and 

 absorbes bromine, when dissolved in chloroform, thereby generating hydrobromic acid. 

 The semicarbazone melts at 165°. The compound Ci Hi 6 O could only be obtained 

 in a pure state from summer urine, but not from winter urine. The ketone also occurs 



!) Journ. Americ. chem. Soc. 36 (1914), 2118, 2136; Report October 1915, 72. — 2 ) /. Biol. Chem. 26 

 (1916), 387, 401, 409; Journ. chem. Soc. 110 (1916), 1. 773, 774. 



