Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  j 
March,  19 18.  ■» 
Current  Literature. 
221 
is  included  under  the  heading  "other  oil  seeds."  In  1915,  251.4 
tons  of  seeds  under  this  general  heading  were  exported  from  Russia, 
and  in  191 6,  631  tons.  According  to  the  general  data  available, 
about  40  per  cent,  of  the  seed  under  this  heading  is  mustard  seed, 
giving  an  export  figure  for  1915  of  about  100  tons  and  for  1916  of 
252  tons.  As  the  exports  of  mustard  seed  are  not  listed  as  such,  it 
is  impossible  to  list  the  ports  of  export  or  the  destinations  of  the 
shipments. 
About  70  per  cent,  of  the  crop  of  mustard  seed  is  taken  for  mus- 
tard-seed oil  production;  about  10  per  cent,  goes  for  the  produc- 
tion of  ethereal  oil;  19  per  cent,  is  used  in  the  manufacture  of  mus- 
tard (Farina  sinapis)  ;  and  the  remaining  1  per  cent,  is  sold  by 
pharmacists  under  the  name  of  mustard  seed  (Semina  sinapis). 
(From  Commerce  Reports.) 
Japan  Peppermint  Cultivation. — We  hear,  says  the  Monthly 
Trade  Journal,  that  steps  will  soon  be  taken  at  Hokkaido,  where 
the  chief  peppermint  cultivation  of  Japan  is  carried  on,  to  sys- 
tematize the  cultivation  of  the  planting  and  the  manufacture  of 
menthol.  In  the  past,  the  sun-drying  process  especially  has  left 
much  to  be  desired  and,  while  the  peppermint  in  the  shape  of  crude 
oil  has  so  far  been  shipped  to  Yokohama  and  Kobe,  where  it  is  dis- 
tilled in  the  factories,  it  is  now  proposed  to  erect  factories  in  the 
chief  farming  districts  on  a  cooperative  basis. 
Peppermint  oil  derived  from  the  residue  of  oil  after  being 
properly  refined  is  finding  every  year  a  larger  demand  abroad. 
Before  the  war  the  largest  customer  of  Japanese  menthol  crystal 
.was  Germany,  while  to-day  America  is  taking  at  least  88  per  cent, 
of  the  total  output.  The  average  price  has  been  between  $1  and 
$1.50  per  lb.,  while  several  factories  at  the  end  of  1916  sent  circulars 
to  their  chief  customers  announcing  that,  owing  to  circumstances, 
prices  were  likely  to  go  up  during  191 7.  This  did  not  happen  owing 
to  improved  factory  conditions.  During  19 16  about  525,000  lbs., 
valued  at  $1,031,250,  were  produced.  (From  The%  Journal  of  In- 
dustrial and  Engineering  Chemistry.) 
Gutta-percha  from  the  Shea  Butter  Tree. — A  supplement 
to  the  official  Nigeria  Gazette  publishes  a  note  to  the  effect  that  a 
trade  in  what  is  known  locally  as  gutta-percha — a  substance  pre- 
pared from  the  latex  of  the  Shea  butter  tree — has  sprung  up  during 
