Am.  Jour.  Pharm.j 
March,  19 17  > 
Phyto chemical  Research. 
101 
more,  a  considerable  amount  of  a  substance  which  yields  hydro- 
cyanic acid  on  hydrolysis,  and  is  evidently  a  glucoside,  but  the 
attempts  to  isolate  this  compound  have  not  as  yet  been  successful. 
In  connection  with  the  investigation  of  chaulmoogra  oil,  the  oils 
expressed  from  two  distinct  species  of  Hydnocarpus  seeds  have  also 
been  chemically  examined,4  since  they  are  used  in  their  respective 
countries  for  similar  purposes.  One  of  these  oils  was  obtained  from 
the  seeds  of  Hydnocarpus  Wightiana  Blume,  which  is  a  native  of 
Western  India,  while  the  other  was  obtained  from  the  seeds  of 
Hydnocarpus  anthelmintic  a  Pierre,  which  is  indigenous  to  Siam. 
The  last-mentioned  seeds  are  exported  to  China  under  the  name  of 
"Lukrabo."  It  may  be  sufficient  to  state  that  the  oils  obtained 
from  the  seeds  of  these  two  species  of  Hydnocarpus  closely  resemble 
chaulmoogra  oil  in  their  physical  properties  and  chemical  composi- 
tion, containing  the  same  crystalline,  optically  active  acids,  and 
therefore  doubtless  possess  identical  medicinal  value. 
Inasmuch  as  the  seeds  of  Gynocardia  odorata  had  for  a  long 
time  been  regarded  as  the  source  of  chaulmoogra  oil,  it  was  deemed 
desirable  to  ascertain  the  character  of  the  oil  expressed  from  them.5 
For  this  purpose  a  quantity  of  perfectly  authentic  seeds  was  specially 
collected  in  Sylhet,  Assam,  since  they  are  not  an  article  of  com- 
merce, even  in  India.  The  oil  from  gynocardia  seeds  is  a  pale 
yellow  liquid,  whereas  the  true  chaulmoogra  oil  at  ordinary  temper- 
atures is  a  soft  solid.  Gynocardia  oil  has  an  odor  resembling  that 
of  linseed  oil,  and  is  optically  inactive.  In  its  chemical  composition, 
as  well  as  in  its  physical  properties,  it  bears  no  resemblance  to  chaul- 
moogra oil,  since  it  contains  none  of  the  members  of  the  chaul- 
moogric  acid  series.  It  consists  chiefly  of  the  glycerides  of  the 
ordinary  fatty  acids,  such  as  linolic  acid  or  its  isomerides  of  the 
same  series,  palmitic  acid,  linolenic  and  w-olinolenic  acids,  with  a 
relatively  small  amount  of  oleic  acid.  The  results  of  this  chemical 
investigation  thus  served  to  confirm  the  previous  botanical  observa- 
tions, and  completely  established  the  fact  that  the  product  known  as 
chaulmoogra  oil  has  never  been  obtained  from  the  seeds  of  Gyno- 
cardia odorata. 
It  has  already  been  noted  that  genuine  chaulmoogra  seeds  con- 
tain a  considerable  proportion  of  a  compound  which  yields  hydro- 
cyanic acid  on  hydrolysis,  but  that  the  attempts  to  effect  its  isola- 
4  Power  and  Barrowcliff,  Jour.  Chem.  Soc,  1905,  87,  pp.  884-896. 
5  Power  and  Barrowcliff,  ibid.,  1905,  87,  pp.  896-900. 
