A  January ,Pi908.m'}     The  Distillation  of  Oil  of  Coriander.  15 
Mr.  M.  I.  Wilbert,  in  his  report  on  the  Progress  of  Pharmacy 
(American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  December  1907,  page  576)  calls 
attention  to  the  statement  of  E.  J.  Parry,  that  Hardwickia  Balsam 
from  Hardwickia  pinnata,  Copaiferae,  is  being  used  to  adulterate 
Copaiba  (see  Schimmel's  report  for  April,  1907).  It  would  be  in- 
teresting to  know  whether  any  of  the  above  tests  for  Gurjun  Bal- 
sam would  likewise  detect  this  Balsam,  but  I  have  not  yet  had  an 
opportunity  to  try  it. 
Analytical  Laboratory  H.  K.  Mulford  Company. 
December  16,  1907. 
THE  DISTILLATION  OF  OIL  OF  CORIANDER. 
By  Adolph  W.  Miller.,  M.  D. 
In  order  to  dispose  of  some  Mogador  coriander  fruit,  which  had 
become  infested  with  mites,  it  was  determined  to  subject  it  to  distil- 
lation. This  was  conducted  in  a  vacuum  still,  steam  being  used  as 
the  source  of  heat,  at  a  temperature  of  1 500  F.,  the  pump  main- 
taining a  vacuum  of  twenty  inches. 
The  first  charge  of  forty  pounds  consisted  of  about  one-third  of 
worm-eaten  fruit,  and  about  two-thirds  of  fruit  in  good  condition, 
both  having  been  previously  crushed.  The  yield  of  oil  was  not 
appreciable,  as  is  generally  the  case  with  drugs  whose  yield  of  oil 
is  small,  the  water  of  this  first  distillation  merely  becoming  saturated 
with  the  oil. 
The  second  and  third  charges  consisted  of  forty  and  thirty  pounds 
respectively  of  crushed  Mogador  fruit  in  fair  condition.  These  were 
subjected  to  the  same  vacuum  and  temperature,  the  saturated  water 
of  the  first  distillation  being  used  again.  The  total  yield  of  oil  of 
coriander  thus  obtained  from  these  seventy  pounds  was  890  grains, 
being  equivalent  to  0.18  per  cent. 
This  oil,  a  sample  of  which  is  submitted,  is  readily  soluble  in  three 
volumes  of  70  per  cent,  alcohol,  and  is  also  freely  soluble  in  all  pro- 
portions  of  80  and  90  per  cent,  alcohol  at  the  temperature  of  770 
F.,  in  so  far  complying  with  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia.  Its 
specific  gravity  is  0-883  at  770  F.  being  very  near  the  0.878  pre- 
scribed by  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia. 
