39^  Botany  and  Materia  Medica.  {Xmiu&\lTm' 
adding  a  drop  of  sulphuric  acid  to  three  or  four  drops  of  oil,  a  crim- 
son-brown color  was  produced,  changing  in  a  short  time  to  a  beau- 
tiful dark  purple,  and  after  twenty-four  hours  becoming  brownish- 
black. 
By  mixing  the  above  fixed  oil  with  a  quantity  of  petroleum  ben- 
zin,  and  pouring  the  whole  upon  a  filter,  crystals  were  deposited, 
which  were  thoroughly  washed  with  petroleum  benzin,  redissolved 
in  bisulphide  of  carbon  and  allowed  to  recrystallize  ;  further  than 
this  they  were  not  investigated. 
The  drug  contained  4  per  cent,  of  moisture  and  8  per  cent,  of  a 
grayish-white  ash. 
NOTES  ON  THE  RECENT  LITERATURE  OF  BOTANY 
AND  MATERIA  MEDICA. 
By  George  M.  Beringer. 
The  source  of  the  commercial  product  known 
Dilem  and        as  oil  of  dilem,1  received  from  Java,  and  closely 
Patchouli.         resembling  oil  of  patchouli  in  odor,  is  the  sub- 
ject of  two  communications  in  the  Pharma- 
ceutical Journal,  March  21,  1896,  p.  222,  from  J.  Ch.  Sawer  and 
E.  M.  Holmes. 
The  word  dilem  appears  to  be  applied  to  the  leaves  of  a  number 
of  species  of  Pogostemon,  used  for  stuffing  mattresses,  etc. 
From  an  examination  of  herbarium  specimens,  Mr.  Holmes  ex- 
presses the  opinion  that  the  dilem  plant  of  European  commerce  is 
the  Pogostemon  comosus,  Miq. 
From  his  study  of  this  genus,  Mr.  Holmes  concludes  that  the 
true  patchouli,  Pogostemon  patchouli,  Pell.,  is  really  indigenous  to 
the  Philippine  Islands.  The  plant  is  cultivated  at  Penang,  in  Java, 
and  in  India.  He  also  concludes  that  the  patchouli  plant  of  Khasia 
and  Assam,  named  in  "Flor.  Brit.  India,"  Plectranthus  patchouli, 
Clarke,  is  quite  distinct,  and  that  the  leaves  cannot  be  confounded 
with  the  true  patchouli.  It  has  cordate-ovate,  acuminate,  crenate- 
serrate  leaves,  with  scattered  hairs  and  flowers,  in  which  the  upper 
lip  is  hooded  almost  as  in  Scutellaria,  with  inflorescence,  in  a  loosely 
1  From  the  semi-annual  reports  of  Schiminel  &  Co.,  we  glean  that  dilem 
leaves  yield  0*9  per  cent,  of  oil  having  a  specific  gravity  of  0*962.  The  pat- 
chouli plant  yields  three  cuttings  at  half-yearly  intervals.  It  is  important,  in 
order  to  obtain  the  yield  of  oil,  that  the  leaves  be  dried  in  the  shade. 
