278 
Bay  Rum  or  Bay  Spirit. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\      June,  1882, 
The  soap  so  produced,  of  which  I  here  exhibit  a  specimen,  manifests 
no  material  difference  from  ordinary  soaps,  only  that  in  the  course  of 
its  preparation  it  separates  as  it  is  formed,  owing  to  the  great  amount 
of  sodium  chloride  formed  in  the  process. 
The  chlorinated  oil,  by  computation  of  its  atomic  weight,  shows  100 
parts  by  weight  to  contain  about  17"9  parts  by  weight  of  chlorine,  or,, 
in  other  words,  it  would  take  48  parts  by  weight  of  chlorine  gas  to 
convert  100  parts  of  oil  into  the  chlorinated  product  of  which  24  parts 
by  weight  enter  into  the  100  parts  of  oil,  and  24  parts  form  hydro- 
chloric acid. 
It  would  appear,  hence,  that  in  chlorinated  oil  we  have  not  alone  a 
very  interesting  chemical  body,  but  one  that  is  very  rich  in  chlorine  as 
well ;  and,  as  the  latter  exists  therein  in  a  loosely  molecular  condition, 
it  will  readily  substitute  itself  again  for  hydroxyl,  forming  chlorine 
compounds  with  bodies  of  stronger  affinity,  and  as  such  will  prove 
probably  of  great  therapeutic  value  wherever  the  use  of  chlorine, 
both  as  disinfectant  and  parasiticide,  is  indicated,  and  possibly  present- 
ing a  proper  antagonistic  for  bacterise,  which  are  daily  more  shown  to 
form  the  causation  of  many  diseases. 
Philadelphia,  May,  1882. 
ON  BAY  RUM  OR  BAY  SPIRIT. 
By  a.  H.  Ruse. 
Read  at  the  PharmacevMcal  Meeting,  May  16. 
Bay  rum  is  made  by  distillation  of  the  leaves  and  berries  of  the  bay- 
berry  tree  with  rum.  Although  bay  rum  is  so  much  used  in  the 
United  States,  very  little  is  known  there  about  its  origin,  production,, 
and  the  characters  by  which  it  is  distinguished  from  imitations.  A 
brief  sketch  of  it  will,  therefore,  be  of  interest  to  the  druggist  and. 
importer  as  well  as  to  the  public  in  general. 
The  bayberry  tree  [Pimenta  acris,  W.  A. ;  Myreia  aeris,  DC.) 
belongs  to  the  large  family  of  myrtacese,  which  abound  in  fragrant 
volatile  oils.  The  plant  is  glabrous,  of  a  considerable  size,  the  stem 
is  straight  and  rigid,  the  branchlets  green  and  shapely  four-angled,, 
the  leaves  opposite,  oval  or  roundish,  shining,  coriacious,  from  3  to  5 
inches  long,  with  numerous  parallel  nerves,  and  sprinkled  with  many 
pellucid  dots.  The  flowers  are  arranged  in  axillary  panicles,  and  are 
white,  with  a  reddish  tinge.    The  berries  are  round,  of  the  size  of  sl 
