Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  i 
January,  1899.  j 
The  C he  v  lis  try  of  Sassafras. 
27 
While  discussing  the  subject  of  specific  gravity  it  is  worth  while 
to  allude  to  the  method  of  taking  the  sp.  gr.  of  substances  soluble 
in  water. 
The  substance  under  examination  is  weighed  in  air  and  then  in 
some  liquid  in  which  it  is  insoluble,  the  loss  in  this  liquid 
is  divided  into  its  weight  in  air,  multiplied  by  the  specific  gravity  of 
the  liquid  used — this  method  is  noted  in  the  fifth  edition  of  Parrisli  s 
Pharmacy,  p.  78,  date  of  1884,  is  also  the  general  rule  for  all  sub- 
stances whether  soluble  or  insoluble  in  water. 
'the  CHEMISTRY  OF  SASSAFRAS.1 
By  Dr.  Clemens  KXeber. 
Director  of  the  Laboratories  of  Fritzsche  Bros. 
The  chemistry  of  sassafras,  so  far  as  it  has  been  elucidated  by  sci- 
entific investigations,  consists  practically  of  the  chemistry  of  the 
essential  oils  that  can  be  distilled  from  the  various  parts  of  the  sas- 
safras tree,  for,  with  the  exception  of  a  red  matter,  termed  "  Sassa- 
frid,"  which  is  formed  in  fresh  sassafras  roots  when  exposed  to  the 
air,  and  which  seems  to  be  an  oxidation  product  of  some  tannin-like 
matter,  no  other  derivative  of  the  plant  has,  so  far,  been  the  subject 
of  chemical  researches. 
The  well-known  article  of  commerce  that  is  called  simply  "  Oil 
of  Sassafras"  is  distilled  exclusively  from  the  sassafras  roots,  and 
chiefly  from  the  bark  of  the  root,  though  also  some  oil,  apparently 
of  the  same  composition,  can  be  obtained  from  the  wood  of  the  root. 
The  wood  and  the  bark  of  the  stem  contain  but  traces  of  oil.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  are  only  a  very  few  drugs  that  contain  so  high 
a  percentage  of  volatile  oil  as  does  the  bark  of  sassafras  root,  which 
yields  not  less  than  6  to  9  per  cent,  of  it,  while  from  the  wood  of  the 
root  generally  less  than  1  per  cent,  is  obtained. 
The  oil  of  sassafras  bark,  when  freshly  distilled,  is  an  almost  color- 
less liquid  ;  but  when  exposed  to  light  and  air,  it  gradually  assumes 
a  yellow,  reddish  or  even  brown  color.  Its  specific  gravity  is  be- 
tween 1-07  and  ro8,  with  an  optical  rotation  to  the  right,  varying 
from  plus  30  to  plus  40,  the  degree  of  rotation  being  lower  as  the 
specific  gravity  rises.  It  may  be  of  interest  to  mention  in  this 
connection  that  regularly  every  spring  there  appear  in  commerce 
1  Read  at  a  meeting  of  the  College  of  Pharmacy  of  the  City  of  New  York. 
