Am'juiyri8P84arm'}        Oils  of  Blumea  and  Sphceranthus.  377 
THE  ESSENTIAL  OILS  OF  BLUMEA  LACERA,  DC,  AND 
SPHiERANTHUS  INDICUS,  LINN. 
By  W.  Dymock. 
These  two  plants  attract  attention  in  India  during  the  cold  weather 
by  their  abundance  on  waste  ground  and  in  fields  after  the  harvesting 
of  the  rice  crop.  The  Blumea  has  a  powerful  camphoraceous  odoi% 
and  Sphwranthus  indicus  a  rose-like  perfume. 
B.  lacera  is  a  perennial  plant,  with  obovate,  deeply  serrated  leaves 
and  yellow  groundsel-like  flowers,  the  whole  plant  being  thickly 
clothed  with  long  silky  hairs.  The  natives  of  the  Concan,  near  Bom- 
bay, call  it  Nimurdi,  and  make  use  of  it  to  drive  away  fleas  and  other 
insects.  One  hundred  and  fifty  lbs.  of  the  fresh  herb  in  flower  was 
submitted  to  distillation  in  the  usual  manner  with  water,  and  yielded 
about  2  ounces  of  a  light  yellow  essential  oil,  having  a  specific  gravity 
of  0*9144  at  80°F.,  and  an  extraordinary  rotating  power,  100  mm. 
turning  the  ray  66°  to  the  left.  Mr.  D.  S.  Kemp,  who  made  the 
observation,  checked  it  by  examining  a  10  per  cent,  solution  in  alcohol, 
which  gave  6*6. 
This  Blumea  is  of  interest  as  the  possible  source  of  an  insect  pow- 
der. I  am  forwarding  a  supply  of  the  plant  and  a  specimen  of  the 
oil  to  Mr.  Holmes  for  experiment  and  also  for  identification,  as  the 
genus  is  a  difficult  one. 
Sphceranthus  indicus  is  an  annual  with  sessile,  decurrent,  obovate, 
bristly  serrate,  downy,  glutinous  leaves,  and  globular  heads  of  purple 
flowers.  It  is  a  well-known  Indian  medicine,  under  the  names  of 
Mundi,  Gorakhmundi,  Munditika,  Murmur  ia  and  Kottak-harandaiy 
and  is  reputed  to  be  a  general  tonic,  deobstruent,  alterative  and  aphro- 
disiac. The  distilled  water  is  recommended  for  use  and  also  the  root* 
One  hundred  and  fifty  lbs.  of  the  fresh  herb  was  distilled  with  water 
in  the  usual  manner  and  yielded  a  very  deep  sherry  colored,  viscid 
essential  oil,  very  soluble  in  water,  and  clinging  to  the  side  of  the 
vessel,  so  that  only  half  an  ounce  could  be  collected.  The  oil  does  not 
appear  to  have  any  rotatory  power,  but  it  is  difficult  to  examine  on 
account  of  its  opacity. — Farm.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  June,  7, 1884,  p.  985. 
Bombay,  May  1,  1884. 
