Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb  ,1889. 
Laurel-Nut  Oil. 
87 
over  sulphuric  acid  are,  C  =  53 '43,  H  =  6*17  (mean  of  three  analy- 
ses), which  closely  agree  with  the  numbers  obtained  by  Paterno  and 
Briosi  for  hesperidin,  namely,  53*44  and  5*92;  but  E.  Hoffman, 
taking  the  formula  as  C22H26016  (C  =  54*77  and  H  =  5*39),  considers 
that  the  sample  analyzed  by  Paterno  and  Briosi  was  incompletely 
dried,  and  that  a  temperature  of  150°  is  necessary  to  remove  all  the 
water. 
On  heating  diosmin  in  a  current  of  air  at  150 — 160°,  it  lost  4*2  per 
cent,  of  water,  and  on  analysis  then  gave  numbers  corresponding  with 
C  =  57*77  and  H  ==  6*00.  The  author  is  making  a  careful  com- 
parison of  diosmin  with  hesperidin,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  they 
are  identical  or  not. 
LAUREL-NUT  OIL. 
By  David  Hooper. 
The  Alexandrian  laurel  (Calophyllum  Inophyllum,  L.)  is  distributed 
throughout  India  and  Malaya,  and  is  especially  abundant  on  the 
western  coast  and  in  the  native  state  of  Travancore.  The  Hindustani 
name  of  the  tree  is  Sultan  Champa,  the  Tamil  and  Malayalam  name 
is  Punnai.  Its  thick  green  and  glossy  leaves  resemble  those  of  a 
laurel,  but  the  tree  is  far  removed  from  this  family  of  plants,  as  it 
is  really  a  Guttifer,  belonging  to  the  natural  order  Clusiacere.  The 
fruit  is  about  the  size  of  a  bantam's  egg  when  ripe,  and  of  a  greenish 
yellow  color  ;  when  dry  it  is  brown  or  black  and  has  a  hard  wrinkled 
surface.  The  seed,  consisting  of  two  white  closely  united  hemispheri- 
cal cotyledons,  loses  in  drying  30  per  cent,  of  water,  and  the  dried 
seed  yields  68  per  cent,  of  fixed  oils.  This  oil  is  largely  used  for 
burning,  and  is  occasionally  used  for  making  varnishes  and  soap.  In 
medicine  the  oil  is  employed  either  alone  or  mixed  with  more  power- 
ful remedies  as  a  liniment  for  rheumatism,  and  is  applied  to  ringworm 
and  various  skin  eruptions.  The  tariff  valuation  of  laurel-nuts  in 
Travancore  is  Us.  7  per  cwt.  and  the  oil  Rs.  8  as  against  cocoa-nut  oil 
Rs.  14  per  cwt.  The  value  of  the  exports  of  laurel-nut  oil  from  Trav- 
ancore during  the  past  five  years  has  been  as  follows  : — 1882-83,  Rs. 
74,314;  1883-84,  Rs.  68,767;  1884-85,  Rs.  48,997;  1885-86,  Rs. 
78,845;  1886-87,  Rs.  57,148.  In  1886-87  63  cwt.  was  exported 
from  Alleppey.  Dr.  Watt  says  that  although  this  oil  cannot  compete 
with  castor  oil  for  industrial  purposes  in  the  Calcutta  market,  it  fetches 
