VALUES  OF  COMMERCIAL  VARIETIES  OF  BUCHU  LEAVES.  129 
ON  THE  COMPARATIVE  VALUES  OF  THE  COMMERCIAL 
VARIETIES  OP  BUCHU  LEAVES. 
By  P.  W.  Bedford. 
"  What  are  the  actual  values  of  the  commercial  varieties  of  Buchu 
Leaves,  based  on  the  proportion  of  volatile  oil  they  will  yield  ?" 
There  are  found  in  commerce,  three  varieties  of  Buchu,  known 
as  long,  medium,  and  short.  Their  monetary  value  is  in  the  same 
order,  the  long  Buchu  (at  the  present  time)  being  worth  80  cents 
per  lb.,  while  the  short  Buchu  can  be  had  for  30  cents.  The 
second  commercial  variety,  known  as  medium,  has  not  been  in 
the  market  in  this  city  for  several  months.  Owing  to  this  fact, 
my  experiments  have  been  confined  to  the  two  varieties,  long  and 
short. 
The  long  Buchu,  known  as  Barosma  serratifolia  (Willdenow), 
is  the  variety  most  highly  esteemed,  but  my  experiments  show 
that  it  contains  much  less  volatile  oil  than  the  Barosma  crenulata 
or  short-leaved  Buchu.  These  experiments  have  been  made  on 
quantities  varying  from  9000  to  15,000  grains  of  the  leaves. 
My  experiments  with  the  long-leaved  Buchu  gave  respectively 
0-  62,  0-68,  0-64,  and  0*71  per  cent,,  being  an  average  of  0*66 
or  two-thirds  of  one  per  cent. 
Similar  experiments  with  the  short-leaved  Buchu  gave  respect- 
ively 1*60,  1*16,  1-07,  and  1-02  per  cent.,  being  an  average  of 
1-  21,  or  one  and  one-fifth  per  cent. 
The  only  recorded  analyses  of  Buchu  leaves  I  have  met  with 
are  those  of  Brandes,  made  in  1827,  and  another  made  the  same 
year  by  Cadet  de  Gassincourt. 
Brandee'  analysis  sets  the  amount  of  volatile  oil  at  0-88  per 
cent.,  that  of  Cadet  de  Gassincourt  at  0*665  per  cent.  The  va- 
riety of  Buchu  is  not  stated. 
In  Stille"s  Materia  Medica  and  Therapeutics,  vol.  2,  p.  673,  iti& 
stated  that  Buchu  yields  seven  per  cent,  of  volatile  oil,  which 
statement  is  evidently  an  oversight  or  misprint. 
New  York,  August,  1863. 
Proc.  Amer.  Pharm.  Association,  1863, 
9 
