96 
Seeds  of  Calycanthns  Glaucus. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb.,  1890. 
a  small  quantity  of  a  phenol  of  somewhat  higher  boiling- 
point,  and  in  alcoholic  solution  becoming  blue  with  ferric 
chloride.  Betel  oil,  freed  from  phenol,  did  not  yield,  by  frac- 
tionating, a  pure  compound  in  sufficient  quantity  for  exami- 
nation. The  fraction  between  173  and  1760  contained  several 
terpenes,  but  no  pinene,  and  had  a  very  agreeable  lemon-like 
odor,  while  a  mint-like  odor  was  observed  in  the  fraction 
between  1900  and22o°.  From  the  higher  boiling  fraction  a 
hydrocarbon,  sesquiterpene,  was  obtained,  having  a  slight 
odor,  boiling  at  2600  C,  and  in  acetic  solution  acquiring  a 
deep  indigo-blue  color  with  bromine. 
The  author  also  calls  attention  to  the  betel  oil  obtained  by 
Schimmel&  Co.  (see  Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  1889,  p.  312)  from  dry 
betel  leaves,  and  shows  that  the  oil  did  not  contain  the  above 
compounds  to  which  the  fresh  leaves  owe  their  characteristic 
odor ;  they  may  have  been  dissipated  by  drying,  or  oxidized 
by  exposure,  or  lost  by  remaining  dissolved  in  the  water;  the 
use  of  steam  under  pressure  may  have  volatilized  more  of 
the  high  boiling  phenol  than  is  obtainable  by  ordinary 
distillation. 
Safrol,  when  oxidized  by  potassium  permanganate,  yields, 
according  to  Th.  Poleck  (Berichte  der  D.  Ch.  Ges.y  1889,  p.  2861) 
piperonal  and  piperonylic,  carbonic,  formic,  acetic  and  oxalic 
acids,  but  no  propionic  acid,  as  was  stated  by  Schiff  in  1884. 
THE  SEEDS  OF  CALYCANTHUS  GLAUCUS.1 
By  H.  W.  Wiley. 
The  weight  of  100  seeds  unhulled  was  found  to  be  21*1964 
gm. ;  the  average  weight  of  each  seed  is  therefore  about  200 
mgm. 
The  pods,  hulls  and  kernels  were  examined  separately. 
The  pods  and  seed-hulls  were  ground  in  a  drug  mill  and 
passed  through  a  \  mm.  mesh  sieve.  On  account  of  the 
great  quantity  of  oil  in  the  kernels,  they  were  reduced  to  as 
fine  a  powder  as  possible  on  an  iron  plate  or  pulverizer,  and 
the  oil  removed  by  petroleum  spirit.    The  deoleated  residue 
1  Abstract  of  a  paper  published  in  American  Chemical  Journal,  December, 
1889,  PP-  557-567. -J-  M.  M. 
