Am.  Jour.  Pharin. 
Dec,  1891. 
Production  of  Oil  of  Birch. 
579 
water  bath  three  per  cent,  of  residue  remained  and  on  incineration 
0-3  per  cent,  of  ash  was  obtained.  This  preparation  was  apparently 
only  a  weak  alcoholic  tincture  containing  a  small  quantity  of  acid, 
most  likely  acetic. 
A  sample  of  another  product,  prepared  by  a  prominent  essential 
oil  house  in  New  York,  was  also  procured  for  examination.  It  was 
a  neutral  limpid  liquid  of  a  bright  green  color,  had  a  specific  gravity 
of -83.5.  On  evaporation  on  the  water  bath  3724  per  cent,  residue 
was  obtained  and  0-267  per  cent,  ash  was  left  on  incineration.  The 
stain  on  bibulous  paper  was  resinous.  With  water  an  opalescent 
mixture  was  produced,  which  after  standing  deposited  a  green  pre- 
cipitate. With  strong  alcohol  it  yielded  a  clear  solution  without 
any  precipitation,  but  with  dilute  alcohol  the  solution  was  not 
clear.  With  chloroform  it  yielded  a  clear  solution.  Its  action 
with  ether  precluded  it  from  being  ethereal  extract  or  oleoresin,  as 
it  formed  a  clear  solution  with  concentrated  ether  and  a  cloudy 
one  with  commercial  U.  S.  P.  ether  and  from  both  of  these  solu- 
tions there  was  a  slight  precipitate  of  a  brown  color  deposited. 
The  preparation  is  evidently  only  a  tincture  prepared  with  strong 
alcohol  from  the  flowers,  and  from  the  amount  of  chlorophyll 
present,  I  would  suppose  that  these  had  been  admixed  with  a  por- 
tion of  the  leaf  or  possibly  the  calyx. 
Neither  of  these  preparations  have  any  claim  to  the  title  of  an  oil 
under  the  generally  accepted  definition  of  that  term,  and  it  is  a 
matter  of  surprise  that  such  reputable  houses  should  lend  themselves 
to  this  form  of  petty  deception  to  introduce  an  article  at  exorbitant 
prices.  Another  objectionable  feature,  is  that  if  such  preparations 
are  advertised  under  the  same  name  as  a  preparation  known  for  a 
century,  an  element  of  doubt  is  introduced  as  to  the  physician's 
intention  in  prescribing.  As  many  of  our  physicians  see  only  the 
advertisements  and  do  not  know  the  preparations,  it  is  doubtful  if 
they  could  decide  which  they  really  intended. 
ON  THE  PRODUCTION  OF  OIL  OF  BIRCH. 
By  William  H.  Breisch,  Ph.G. 
From  an  Inaugural  Essay  presented  to  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. 
The  oil  of  birch  was  first  distilled  in  Luzerne  County,  Pa.,  about 
the  summer  of  1865,  shortly  after  that  of  oil  of  wintergreen,  and 
now  the  manufacture  of  oil  of  wintergreen  is  almost  entirely  super- 
