158 
SELECTED ARTICLES. 
Both the oils of cloves and cinnamon, after admixture with 
sulphurous ether and subsequent distillation, gave, on analysis, 
precipitates of sulphate of barytes. In the case of cloves, the 
precipitate amounted to one -seventh of the whole weight. 
By distilling camphor with alcohol and sulphuric acid, I 
obtained a yellow liquid, which, by washing with ammonia 
and evaporation, in order to get rid of the sulphurous ether, 
yielded an oil. The oil, by standing, separated into two 
portions, one solid, the other liquid. The solid portion re- 
sembled camphor somewhat, in smell, but differed from it by 
melting at a much lower temperature, becoming completely 
fluid at 175°. 
I found that the essential oils of cinnamon and cloves pos- 
sessed an antiseptic power, quite equal to that of kreosote, and 
that their aqueous solutions, when sulphated, were even supe- 
rior to similar solutions of that agent. 
One part of milk mingled with four parts of a saturated 
aqueous solution of the sulphated oil of cloves, remained after 
five days sweet and liquid, while another portion of the same 
milk became curdled and sour within twenty-four hours. 
Having on the 2d day of July added two drops of oil of cin- 
namon to an ounce measure of fresh milk, it remained liquid 
on the 11th; and, though it finally coagulated, it continued 
free from bad taste or smell till September, although other 
portions of the same milk had become putrid. A half ounce 
of milk, to which a drop of sulphurous oil of turpentine had 
been added, remained free from coagulation at the end of two 
days, while another portion, containing five drops of pure oil 
of turpentine, became curdled and sour on the next day. 
A number of pieces of meat were exposed in small wine 
glasses, with water impregnated with solutions of the various 
essential oils. Their antiseptic power seemed to be in the 
ratio of their acridity. The milder oils seemed to have com- 
paratively little antiseptic power, unless associated with 
the sulphurous acid, which has long been known as an anti- 
septic. 
In cutaneous diseases, and, perhaps, in the case of some 
