34 
Oil  of  Sandalwood. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    January,  1914. 
all  sandal  plants,  in  plantations  where  it  occurs,  have  died,  whilst 
solitary  trees  are  still  thriving. 
From  the  above  facts,  recorded  by  various  observers,  it  becomes 
evident  that  the  sandalwood  tree  requires  plenty  of  room  so  as  to 
be  able  to  select  vigorous  hosts  to  feed  it;  that  it  requires  soil  por- 
ous enough  to  enable  its  roots  to  spread  readily,  and  that,  therefore, 
if  too  closely  planted,  it  may  easily  be  starved,  especially  in  hard  or 
heavy  soil.  The  fact  that  isolated  trees  thrive  in  a  natural  condition 
also  indicates  that  the  disease  is  one  of  mal-nutrition,  whilst  the 
presence  of  starch  in  the  withered  shoots  indicates  the  absence  of 
a  suitable  enzyme  to  transform  it  into  soluble  food. 
Apparently  no  attempts  have  as  yet  been  made  to  ascertain  the 
chemical  constituents  that  the  tree  contains,  and  therefore  needs, 
although  Peterson  (Pharmaceutical  Journal  (3),  xvl,  page  575) 
found  that  Macassar  sandalwood  was  rich  in  iron  (7.5  pc)  and 
contained  traces  of  manganese.  The  latter  metal  is  believed  to  be 
connected  with  the  activity  of  enzymes,  and  it  is  possible  that  a 
deficiency  of  it  in  the  soil  may  injuriously  affect  the  growth.  Re- 
search is  also  evidently  necessary  to  ascertain  if  the  tree  selects  one 
ingredient  for  its  nourishment  from  one  tree  and  other  ingredients 
from  other  species,  as  it  is  well  known  that  certain  enzymes  can 
split  up  other  bodies  than  those  on  which  they  usually  act. 
There  is  evidently  much  to  be  done  before  the  cause  of  the 
disease  and  the  means  to  prevent  it  can  be  ascertained. 
Regarding  the  subject  from  the  commercial  side,  the  possibility 
of  other  sources  of  sandalwood  suggests  itself.  The  world's  supply 
of  sandalwood  oil  is  at  the  present  time  chiefly  derived  from  the 
trees  grown  in  Southern  India,  only  a  comparatively  small  quantity 
coming  from  the  Islands  of  Timor  and  Sumba  via  Macassar.  The 
yield  from  Mysore  last  year  was  2469  tons  of  sandalwood,  exclusive 
of  chips  and  sawdust.  The  average  price,  including  chips  and  saw- 
dust, was  471  rupees  as  against  461  rupees  per  ton  during  the 
previous  decennial  period. 
The  only  other  oil  that  at  present  competes  with  the  East  Indian 
sandalwood  oil  is  that  of  Amyris  balsamifera  L.,  a  tree  belonging 
to  the  natural  order  Burseracese,  the  wood  of  which  is  imported 
from  Venezuela,  and  is  known  in  Europe  as  West  Indian  sandal- 
wood. It  competes,  however,  only  in  medicinal  use,  not  in  per- 
fumery. 
Of  the  20  or  more  known  species  of  Santalum,  which  are  dis- 
