Aih.  iour.  Pimrin.  i 
September,  1910.  j 
Oil  of  Gaultheria. 
43? 
TABLE  III. 
Sample.                        Iodine  No.  Optical  Rotation. 
Degrees. 
I.                               11.69  — 25.98 
•  II.                             10.45  —24-97 
III.  I7&3  — 24.24 
IV.  11.60  — 32.78 
V.  11.48  —33-So 
VI.  13.93  —34-27 
VII.  12.46  . — 31.31 
VIII.  11.65  —31-83 
Laboratories  of  Sharp  &  Dohme, 
Baltimore,  Md. 
A  NOTE  ON  OIL  OF  GAULTHERIA.* 
By  George  M.  Beringer. 
Early  in  June  of  last  year,  I  had  collected  near  Hammonton, 
N.  J.,  a  quantity  of  the  plant  Gaulthena  procumbens  L.  and  ex- 
pressed to  me  in  the  fresh  condition.  This  was  carefully  garbled 
over  to  remove  any  admixed  plants  or  leaves,  and  adhering  dirt 
washed  off.  It  was  then  distilled  in  a  copper  still  with  jet  of  live 
steam  continuously  thrown  into  the  still,  so  as  to  prevent  charring 
and  at  the  same  time  thoroughly  extract  the  oil.  From  4070  Gm.  of 
the  plant  I  obtained  23.63  Gm.  of  oil,  equivalent  to  a  yield  of 
0.586  per  cent.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  writer  used  the  entire 
plant  for  his  experiment. 
About  the  same  time,  Professor  Henry  Kraemer  had  distilled 
in  his  laboratory  at  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  a  quan- 
tity of  gaultheria,  using  the  leaves  only  which  were  separated  from 
the  freshly  collected  plants.  The  writer  was  fortunate  enough  to 
secure  a  sample  of  this  oil  and  so  has  now  two  authentic  samples 
of  oil  of  gaultheria  to  exhibit. 
While  it  is  true  that  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  does  describe 
oil  of  gaultheria  as  "distilled  from  the  leaves/'  it  is  exceedingly 
doubtful  if  in  actual  practice  this  has  ever  been  strictly  followed  as 
*  Presented  to  the.  New  Jersey  Pharmaceutical  Association  meeting,  Cape 
May,  June  15,  1910. 
