Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
January,  1914.  j 
Oil  of  Sandalwood. 
35 
tributed  over  Asia,  Australia,  New  Caledonia  and  Polynesia,  several 
were  rendered  almost  extinct  by  the  ruthless  destruction  of  the 
trees  during  the  first  half  of  the  last  century,  and  are  not  now 
available  in  quantity  for  commercial  purposes.  These  include 
5\  Freycinetianum,  Gaud.,  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  S.  Hornet, 
Seem.,  of  Eromanga,  S.  insular e,  Bert.,  of  the  Marquesas  and  Do- 
ciety  Islands,  and  5\  Yasi,  Seem.,  of  the  Tongo  Islands,  and  5.  Aus- 
tro-Caledonicum,  VieilL,  of  New  Caledonia.  The  wood  of  these 
trees  was  chiefly  collected  for  the  Chinese  market,  and  not  for  the 
distillation  of  oil.  None  of  these  trees,  so  far  as  is  known,  yields 
an  oil  equal  in  fragrance  to  that  of  5".  album. 
A  log  of  wood  of  Santalum  Yasi  from  the  Indian  and  Colonial 
Exhibition  was  distilled  by  Mr.  C.  Umney  in  1886,  and  a  sample  of 
the  oil  sent  to  Messrs.  Schimmel  and  Co.,  who  considered  it  in- 
ferior both  in  perfume  and  therapeutical  effect  to  that  of  Santalum 
album.  The  yield  appeared  to  be  6y2  per  cent.,  although  the  real 
percentage  might  have  been  less,  as  an  unusual  amount  of  water 
separated  from  the  oil  in  the  winter  weather. 
Of  the  trees  yielding  sandalwood  in  Australia,  some  of  which 
were  formerly  classed  in  the  genus  Santalum,  the  oils  are  known 
only  in  a  few  cases.  That  of  Fusanus  spicatus  R.  Br.  (formerly 
Santalum  cygnorum)  or  West  Australian  sandalwood  oil,  is  dis- 
tilled to  some  extent  in  West  Australia,  but  is  considered  by 
Gildemeister  and  Hoffmann  to  have  an  unpleasant  resinous  odor, 
and  not  fit  to  be  used  as  a  substitute  for  East  Indian  sandalwood  oil. 
It  is,  however,  the  nearest  to  the  true  sandalwood  oil,  and  contains 
75  per  cent,  of  alcohols,  which  have,  however,  not  been  positively 
identified  with  santalol,  but  owing  to  the  small  yield  of  oil  (2  per 
cent.)  and  the  expense  of  labor  in  Australia,  although  the  tree 
is  fairly  plentiful,  it  cannot  compete  with  the  Indian  oil.  That  of 
F.  acuminatus  R.  Br.  (formerly  Santalum  Preissianum  Miq.) 
known  as  South  Australian  sandalwood,  yields  a  vivid  cherry-red 
oil,  from  which  crystals  separate  out  on  cooling.  It  has  a  different, 
somewhat  rose-like  odor,  and  a  different  composition  and  specific 
gravity  to  that  of  East  Indian  sandalwood.  Exocarpus  latifolius 
R.  Br.,  a  West  Australian  plant,  may  perhaps  yield  some  of  the 
West  Australian  sandalwood  oil,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  it 
yields  an  oil  resembling  that  of  true  sandalwood. 
Several  fragrant  woods  are  known  under  the  name  of  sandal- 
wood in  other  countries;  the  wood  of  Osyris  tenuifolia,  Engl.,  a 
