OLEUM  CHENOPODII  ANTHELMINTIC!. 
405 
vermifuge,  and  from  them  it  has  been  introduced  into  the  pre- 
sent pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States.  The  manner  of  appli- 
cation as  first  obtained  from  the  Indians,  was  to  give  the  ex- 
pressed juice  of  the  plant,  alone  or  with  milk.  At  the  present 
time  the  seeds  and  oil  are  mostly  used  to  destroy  the  ascariden. 
According  to  Engelhardt,  thirteen  ounces  of  the  seeds  gave 
three  and  a  half  drachms  of  volatile  oil  of  a  light  yellow  color, 
which  by  long  standing  became  gradually  brown  and  quite  thick. 
Shortly  after  its  preparation  it  had  a  specific  gravity  of  0-909, 
and  oil  which  had  stood  two  years  gave  a  S.  G.  of  0-960.  Two 
kinds  of  oil  are  found  in  .the  American  market,  one  under  the 
name  Baltimore  and  the  other  called  western  wormseed  oil.  Each 
is  sold  at  a  quite  different  price,  though  no  difference  can  be 
found  in  their  appearance  or  effects.  The  cheapness  of  the 
western  oil  may  be  accounted  for  from  the  greater  abundance  of 
this  particular  plant,  as  well  as  from  the  probable  mixture  with 
it,  in  the  distillation,  of  other  plants  belonging  to  the  same 
species. 
The  oil  which  I  used  in  my  examination  had  in  the  crude  state 
a  brownish  yellow  color,  was  specifically  lighter  than  water,  and 
had  a  strong  aromatic  odor ;  its  boiling  point  was  190°  Cen.,  and 
it  had  a  specific  gravity  at  16°  Cen.  of  0-959. 
It  is  soluble  in  large  quantities  in  alcohol  and  ether. 
Oil  of  wormseed  absorbs  large  quantities  of  chlorine,  attended 
with  a  considerable  elevation  of  heat  and  the  liberation  of  hydro- 
chloric acid  gas.  If  the  process  is  continued  for  some  time  the 
entire  portion  receives  a  dark  red  color.  This,  when  distilled 
with  an  excess  of  carbonate  of  lime,  gave  a  colorless  liquid  having 
the  odor  of  camphor,  and  burning  with  a  smoky  flame  tinged 
with  green. 
The  analogy  of  this  liquid,  with  the  similar  compound  of  chlo- 
rine with  oil  of  turpentine,  rendered  it  hardly  necessary  to  con- 
tinue the  investigations. 
No  explosion  was  obtained  on  the  addition  of  iodine.  Added 
in  excess  it  gave  the  oil  a  dark  red  color,  with  separation  of  a 
resinous  substance. 
Caustic  potash  formed  no  combination  with  this  oil,  but  a  resin- 
ous  mass  was  left  after  distillation  from  the  same. 
In  the  analysis  of  this  oil  the  following  method  was  adopted. 
