Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
March,  19 17 
Phytochemical  Research. 
99 
those  of  our  immediate  surroundings.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  a 
careful  and  complete  examination  of  this  material  would  reveal  not 
only  much  of  scientific  interest,  but  also  a  considerable  number  of 
substances  which  would  be  found  to  possess  medicinal  value. 
The  numerous  applications  of  phytochemistry,  to  some  of  which 
I  have  briefly  alluded,  render  it  evident  that  it  represents  an  im- 
portant part  of  agricultural  science.  In  surveying  this  large  domain 
it  has  been  deemed  desirable  to  devote  the  time  this  evening  to  a 
consideration  of  the  chemical  characters  of  some  plant  constituents, 
and  for  the  elucidation  of  this  phase  of  the  subject  a  brief  account 
may  be  given  of  some  results  obtained  in  the  course  of  investigations 
with  which  I  have  been  personally  associated. 
Among  the  drugs  which  possess  not  only  chemical  interest,  but 
very  considerable  medicinal  importance,  may  be  mentioned  the  so- 
called  chaulmoogra  seeds,  or  the  fatty  oil  obtained  therefrom. 
Chaulmoogra  Oil  was  for  a  long  time  considered  to  be  obtained 
from  the  seeds  of  Gynocardia  odorata  R.  Br.,  but  chiefly  through 
the  researches  of  Sir  David  Prain,  Director  of  the  Royal  Botanic 
Gardens  at  Kew,  it  was  definitely  ascertained  that  the  seeds  yielding 
this  oil  are  those  of  the  plant  Taraktogenos  Kurzii  King,  or,  as 
designated  by  some  botanists,  Hydnocarpus  Kurzii  Warburg,  which 
is  a  native  of  Burmah. 
The  chief  use  of  chaulmoogra  oil  is  in  the  treatment  of  leprosy 
and  other  skin  diseases,  for  which  it  is  employed  both  internally  and 
externally.  It  is  the  remedy  most  relied  upon  for  leprosy,  and  by 
some  is  regarded  as  a  specific  for  that  disease. 
Chaulmoogra  oil  was  first  chemically  examined  many  years  ago, 
when,  after  hydrolysis,  a  product  was  obtained  therefrom  which 
received  the  designation  of  gynocardic  acid,  but  which  is  now  known 
to  have  consisted  of  an  indefinite  mixture.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
more  recent  and  complete  examination  of  the  oil  has  shown  it  to 
possess  very  exceptional  chemical  interest.2  Its  chief  constituents 
are  the  glyceryl  esters,  or  glycerides,  of  acids  of  an  entirely  new 
type.  These  acids  are  optically  active,  have  a  cyclic  structure,  and 
are  represented  by  the  general  formula  CnH2rl_402.  The  acid 
present  in  the  oil  in  the  largest  proportion  possesses  the  empirical 
formula  C18H3202,  and  has  been  termed  chaulmoogric  acid,  with 
reference  to  its  source.  For  the  purpose  of  classification  in  the 
literature,  it  represents,  together  with  its  homologue,  the  so-called 
chaulmoogric  acid  series. 
2  Power  and  Gornall,  Jour.  Chem.  Soc,  1904,  85,  pp.  838-851. 
