Am,M°ay%h8arm*}        Adulteration  of  Volatile  Oils.  219 
We  are  now  investigating  thoroughly  the  adulteration  of  oil  of 
birch  and  wintergreen  with  synthetic  methyl  salicylate,  and  are  very 
sorry  our  experimental  work  is  not  complete,  so  that  it  might  be 
presented  at  this  time,  as  we  expected.  In  the  very  near  future  we 
hope  to  present  the  whole  subject  and  give  our  distinguishing  tests 
and  methods  for  detection  of  added  synthetic  methyl  salicylate.  We 
solicit  your  co-operation  on  this  very  important  subject  and  will 
greatly  appreciate  any  data  or  authentic  samples  you  may  supply. 
OLEUM  SANTALI. 
Sandal-wood  is  one  of  the  most  ancient  perfume-bearing  sub- 
stances known  to  mankind,  being,  no  doubt,  brought  by  the  Greeks 
from  India  as  early  as  the  conquest  of  Alexander.  Not  until  the 
fifteenth  century  is  any  mention  made  of  the  oil  distilled  from  the 
wood,  when  Saladinus  of  JEsculo  described  his  method.  It  was  not 
until  1882  that  the  first  comprehensive  examination  was  made  by 
Chapoteaut.  Many  varieties  of  sandal  oil  are  procurable  and  each 
seems  to  vary  widely  in  certain  particulars.  Oil  distilled  from 
freshly'rasped  logs  may  have  a  specific  gravity  below  0'975,  while 
that  made  from  old  chips,  often  0-980. 
Drs.  Pancoast  and  Kebler  (A.  J.  P.,  1901)  state  that  this  oil  should 
be  from  one  to  two  years  old,  as  the  aroma  is  improved  by  age. 
Undoubtedly  there  is  naturally  much  difference  in  the  physical 
and  chemical  properties  of  true  sandal-wood  oil,  derived  from 
various  sources  and  distilled  under  different  conditions,  and  we  think 
that  much  of  the  suspicious  oil  on  the  market  may  be  genuine.  So 
suspicious  have  the  manufacturers  become  of  this  oil  that  many 
firms  import  the  wood  and  distill  the  oil,  but  it  has  been  said  that 
the  yield  from  these  billets  is  sometimes  increased  by  steeping  the 
logs  in  certain  adulterants  before  leaving  India. 
No  doubt  this  oil  has  always  been  subject  to  adulteration,  at  first 
with  articles  easily  recognized,  but  of  late  years  the  adulteration 
has  become  more  scientific  and  complex,  requiring  exhaustive  analy- 
ses. We  have  grown  suspicious  of  this  oil  unless  its  properties 
correspond  rigidly  to  the  requirements  of  our  Pharmacopoeia,  and 
besides  it  is  well  to  apply  other  tests,  such  as  fractional  distillation, 
as  used  by  Parry  and  Bennett  [Chemist  and  Druggist,  July  6,  1907) 
when  oil  mixed  with  turpineol  was  found.  It  is  also  wise  to  take  the 
acid  number.    The  per  cent,  of  santalol  is  of  vital  importance,  but, 
