216 
OLEUM CINNAMOMX. 
Lloyd, John Uri, asserts that — 
Oil of cinnamon differs in quality, as concerns both its origin and its manipu- 
lative course, as it wanders from its Oriental home to the hands of the 
consumer. Need it be said that the label, without a responsible firm behind 
it, is not a guarantee of the contents of the bottle. — Pharm. Rev., 1905, v. 23, 
p. 300. 
Vanderkleed, Charles E., says that two out of three samples ex- 
amined indicated the presence of rosin, and assayed 67 and 75 per 
cent of cinnamic aldehyde, respectively. — Proc. Pennsylvania Pharm. 
Ass., 1905, p. 54. 
A communication to the committee on adulteration of the N. W. 
D. A., referring to oil of cassia, says: 
We have frequently received this in original packages and found it had been 
opened and plugged at the bottom. In regard to this we find it a very hard 
matter to get the pure article. — Paint, Oil and. Drug Rep., 1905, Oct. 6, p. 15. 
Schimmel & Co., point out that the adulteration of oil of cinnamon 
with colophony and similar resins appears once more to be gaining 
ground in China, without the purchasers being able to prove a 
deficiency in the aldehyde content of the oil. Practically all of the 
parcels examined did not at all, or at least only partially, pass the 
lead acetate test of the Ph. Germ., IV. — Semi-Ann. Pep., Schimmel & 
Co., 1905, Apr.-May, p. 21. 
Schimmel & Co. discuss the fluctuations in the price of cassia oil 
from 1886 to date. They say : 
A strict control of the aldehyde content of this oil is strongly recommended, 
as our observations have led to the result that in many cases the simple state- 
ment of the content can not be relied upon. — Ibid., Oct.-Nov., p. 16-17. 
Umney and Bennett point out that the U. S. P., VIII, oil of cinna- 
mon must not be confused with the oil of cinnamon of the Ph. Brit., 
as the latter is derived from C . zeylanicum. The title is rather mis- 
leading, especially as the two barks ( C . saigonicum and C. zeylani- 
cum) are official, while the bark of Cinnamomum cassia is not. As a 
flavor, they believe that the oil from Cinnamomum zeylanicum is to be 
preferred despite the fact that it contains less of the medicinally 
valuable cinnamic aldehyde. The limit of not less than 75 per cent 
of aldehydes, by volume, they believe to be a fair one, as good oils 
should contain from 80 to 85 per cent, by volume, of aldehydes.— 
Pharm. J., Lond., 1905, v. 21, p. 145. 
Brandel, I. W., discusses the composition of the adulterations that 
have been recorded in current literature: he also records a modifica- 
tion, by Panchaud, of the bisulphite method for the assay of cinnamic 
aldehyde and points out that another method of assay, by Harms, 
depends on the production of cinnamic aldehyde semioxamama- 
zone. — Pharm. Bev., 1905, v. 23, p. 382. 
