ON OIL OF THYME. 
367 
from the turning-lathe are observable, and cannot be erased 
till it is newly fashioned. 
" When the article is carved, the vegetable ivory may be 
known by its brightness, and by its fatty appearance, where- 
on the well-skilled may discern the minute lines which are 
the beds of cells. Its structure would almost seem to show 
more analogy with bone than with ivory ; but a microscopic 
investigation quickly proves that vegetable ivory possesses 
an entirely different structure." — Hooker's Journal of Botany. 
ART. LXXXIII— ON OIL OF THYME, COMMONLY SOLD AS 
OIL OF ORIGANUM. 
By Daniel Hanbury. 
The vast number of plants included in the botanical order 
of Labiatse, and the very close alliance of many, render it 
not surprising that the history of their essential oils should 
in a few instances be involved in a degree of confusion or 
doubt. Nor is this the less to be wondered at, when we re- 
flect on the great similarity of many of these oils, our imper- 
fect means of distinguishing them and of ascertaining their 
purity, the unavoidable alteration produced on some by ex- 
traction, to say nothing of differences arising from locality, 
or from want of care in conducting the process of distilla- 
tion. 
The essential oil which I propose to submit to notice at 
this time, is not one of importance to medicine; yet having 
had the opportunity of visiting the district where it is obtain- 
ed, I have elicited a few facts regarding it which appear 
sufficiently interesting to be laid before the Pharmaceutical 
Society. 
The volatile oil sold by chemists as Oleum origani is often 
popularly, and almost always commercially, termed Oil of 
