254 
New  Source  of  Ginger. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1920. 
benzoate,  accurately  weighed,  add  25  Cc.  half -normal  alcoholic 
KOH  and  heat  the  mixture  to  incipient  boiling  under  a  reflux  con- 
denser for  one  hour.  To  the  cooled  solution  add  phenolphthalein 
and  titrate  the  excess  KOH  with  half -normal  HCl.  Each  gram 
of  benzyl  benzoate  requires  for  saponification  not  less  than  8.9  or 
more  than  9.4  Cc.  of  half -normal  KOH. 
The  dose  of  benzyl  benzoate  is  0.3  to  0.5  mil.  (5  to  7  minims). 
It  may  be  given  in  20  per  cent,  alcoholic  solution  (dose,  20  to  30 
drops).  A  proprietary  emulsion  contains  benzyl  benzoate  20  Gm. 
in  alcohol  78  Gm.  to  which  2  Gm.  of  castile  soap  is  added  as  an  emul- 
sifying agent.    Gum  acacia  may  also  be  used  as  emulsifier. 
A  PROBABLE  NEW  SOURCE  OF  GINGER.* 
In  times  like  the  present,  when  every  bit  of  information  affecting 
the  increased  production  of  vegetable  products,  whether  for  food, 
medicine,  or  manufacture,  is  especially  valuable,  the  following  ex- 
tracts from  an  article  on  "Wild  Ginger"  in  a  recent  number  of  the 
Agricultural  News  cannot  fail  to  be  of  interest.  It  may  be  stated 
that  the  Agricultural  News  is  one  of  the  official  publications  of  the 
Imperial  Department  of  Agriculture  for  the  West  Indies.  It  is 
pointed  out  that  the  true  ginger  plant  {Zingiber  officinale)  is  not  known 
in  a  wild  state,  but  that  it  is  doubtless  a  native  of  tropical  Asia, 
where  it  has  been  cultivated  and  from  where  the  rhizomes  have 
been  exported  from  very  remote  times.  From  Asia  it  was  introduced 
into  the  West  Indies,  and  has  spread  now  throughout  the  warmer 
parts  of  both  hemispheres.  The  name  "ginger"  is  derived  through 
the  Greek  from  the  ancient  Sanscrit.  It  was  known  as  a  spice  to 
the  early  Greeks  and  Romans.  During  the  Middle  Ages  it  is  fre- 
quently mentioned  in  European  lists  of  articles  derived  from  the 
Far  East.  In  an  interesting  account  of  a  journey  down  the  Magdalena 
River  and  through  the  Peninsula  of  Goajira  undertaken  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  Minister  of  Agriculture  and  Commerce  of  the  Republic 
of  Columbia  for  the  purpose  of  studying  the  agricultural  conditions 
and  possibihties  of  the  region,  Mr.  M.  T.  Dawe,  F.L.S.,.  Agricultural 
Adviser  to  the  Government  of  Columbia,  makes  the  interesting  state- 
ment that  he  found  ginger  growing  wild  over  extensive  areas  on  the 
*  From  The  Chemist  and  Druggist,  Feb.  7,  1920. 
