72 
Dandelion  in  India,  etc. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    Feb.  1, 1872. 
lish  some  experiments  on  a  similar  subject  which  I  made  in  18  (  9  when 
I  was  in  Java.  The  presence  of  large  numbers  of  Gaultheria  punc- 
tata and  Gaultheria  leucocarpa  on  the  tops  of  many  volcanoes  of  that 
island  having  attracted  my  attention,  I  collected  the  leaves  of  both  of 
them  on  the  extinct  volcano  Patoea,  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the 
amount  of  essential  oil  to  be  extracted  from  them  by  distillation. 
65  pounds  of  fresh  leaves  from  G.  leucocarpa  yielded  forty  grams 
of  oil,  amounting  to  about  0-012  per  cent. 
59  pounds  of  fresh  leaves  from  G.  punctata  yielded  340  grams  of 
oil,  amounting  to  about  145  per  cent, 
Both  these  oils  are  almost  identical  with  the  American  wintergreen 
oil,  as  I  found  them  to  consist  chiefly  of  methyl-salicylic  acid.  I 
brought  them  home,  and  presented  them  to  the  chemical  collection  of 
the  Polytechnic  School  at  Delft. 
It  wintergreen  oil  is  really  in  great  request  by  certain  manufac- 
turers, I  suppose  it  would  be  made  with  profit  in  Java  from  G.  punc- 
tata. 
As  Zwenger  found  quinic  acid  in  the  leaves  of  Vaccinium  3fyrtil- 
lti8,  I  supposed  that  both  the  species  of  Gaultheria  mentioned  as  be- 
longing to  the  same  natural  family,  might  contain  the  same  acid. 
Therefore,  after  distilling  the  oils,  I  examined  the  residue  in  the  still, 
and  found  the  expected  quinic  acid,  as  was  proved  by  its  deviation 
of  the  plane  of  polarization  to  the  left  and  by  the  production  of  hy- 
drochinon,  if  treated  with  maganese  and  sulphuric  acid. — Pharmaceu- 
tical Journal  and  Transactions,  Dec.  28,  1871. 
THE  CULTIVATION  AND  USE  OF  THE  DANDELION  IN  INDIA. 
By  John  R.  JackscJn,  A.L.S., 
Curator  of  Museums,  Royal  Gardens,  Kew. 
The  dandelion  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  cosmopolitan  of  medici- 
nal plants,  for  besides  being  an  actually  recognized  article  in  phar- 
macy, it  is  also  largely  collected  and  used  by  the  peasantry  in  rural 
districts  in  liver  complaints  and  in  cases  of  dyspepsia.  Taraxacum 
officinale,  Wiggers  (Leontodon  Taraxacum,  L.),  is  very  widely  dis- 
tributed through  Europe,  Central  Asia,  North  America  and  the  arctic 
regions.  Several  varieties  of  the  plant  are  known  in  this  country, 
some  of  which  have  been  dignified  into  species.  The  commonest  va- 
riety is  that  mostly  found  on  cultivated  ground  and  known  as  Tarax- 
