568 
EDITORIAL. 
annually,  it  appears  evident  that  our  objections  have  not  all  the  practical  force 
we  should  otherwise  claim  for  them.  Vegetable  extracts,  also  prepared  in 
vacuo,  and  reduced  to  dryness,  but  in  a  massive  and  not  porous  form,  are 
shown  by  M.  Menier,  of  Paris. 
Extract  of  liquorice  is  exhibited  by  several  Italian,  French,  and  Spanish 
manufacturers,  amongst  whom  may  be  mentioned  the  house  of  Barracco, 
which  produces  200,000  kilo,  annually.  Very  good  extract  is  also  shown  in 
the  Austrian  section  by  M.  Quapill,  to  whom  is  due  the  merit  of  having  intro- 
duced the  manufacture  of  liquorice  into  Moravia. 
Under  the  head  of  extracts  it  is  proper  we  should  also  notice  the  substance 
r-alled  podophyllin.  recently  introduced  from  the  United  States  into  British 
medicine  as  an  alterative  and  purgative.  Podophyllin  is  prepared  from  the 
root  of  Podophyllum  peltatum,  L.  (Ranunculacece)  by  exhausting  it  with  alcohol, 
concentrating  the  alcoholic  solution,  and  pouring  it  into  water.  The  dark- 
greenish  resin  thus  separated,  constitutes,  when  washed  and  dried,  podophylVn. 
The  same  process  is  said  to  be  adopted  in  America  for  extracting  resin  from 
numerous  other  roots,  as  those  of  Sanguinaria  canadensis  L.,  Veronica  virginica 
L.,  Hydrastis  canadensis  L.,  Iris  versicolor  L.,  &c,  &c. 
d.  Essential  oils  (medicinal). — The  most  extensive  and  remarkable  collec- 
tions are  those  contributed  from  Leipzig,  where  a  very  important  manufacture 
of  these  products  is  carried  on  by  the  firms  of  Heine  and  Co.,  E.  Sachsse  and 
Co.,  and  Schimmel  and  Co.  Several  of  the  oils  exhibited  by  those  houses 
were  entirely  new  to  most  of  the  Jury.  The  essential  oils  of  Dr.  F.  G.  Geiss, 
of  Aken-on-Elbe,  near  Magdeburg,  of  Dr.  Wagner,  Pesth,  of  Dr.  Lamatsch, 
Vienna,  and  of  Messrs.  Boyer  and  Heil,  and  Co.,  of  Gignac,  Herault,  France, 
deserve  commendation.  In  the  British  section  the  essential  oils,  though  fewer 
in  number  than  the  foreign,  are  not  less  excellent.  The  principal  exhibitors 
deserving  mention  are  Mr.  Holland,  of  Market  Deeping,  and  Mr.  Ransom,  of 
Hitchin.  The  collections  just  named  are  those  of  manufacturers  on  a  large  scale  ; 
but  numerous  other  specimens  of  more  or  less  importance  have  also  been  ob- 
served by  the  Jury.  Cajuput  oil  is  sent  from  the  Dutch  East  Indies,  a  sample 
also  from  New  Caledonia,  and  one  from  New  South  Wales.  Oils  of  peppermint 
and  wintergreen  are  contributed  by  the  United  States,  and  otto  of  rose  by  Turkey. 
There  is  also  a  sample  of  the  essential  oil  with  which  otto  of  rose  is  adultera- 
ted, contributed  by  Mr.  S.  H.  Maltass,  of  Smyrna ;  this  oil  which,  we  believe, 
is  now  almost  invariably  mixed  with  the  Turkish  otto,  is  the  produce  of  Andro- 
pogon  pachnodes,  Trim,  a  fragrant  grass,  abundant  in  the  north-western  pro- 
vinces of  India,  and  not,  as  sometimes  stated,  of  a  pelargonium.  It  is  shipped 
from  Bombay,  whence  it  is  carried  to  Turkey,  partly  by  native  traders  by  way 
of  the  Red  Sea  and  Egypt,  and  partly  by  way  of  England.  From  its  similarity 
in  odor  to  the  essential  oil  distilled  at  Cannes  in  Provence,  and  in  Algeria,  from 
Pelargonium  Radula,  Ait.  var.  roseum,  it  is  frequently  sold  under  the  name  of 
"  Turkish  oil  of  Geranium." 
e.  Fixed  Vegetable  Oils. — Of  these  substances  those  alone  which  could 
claim  the  application  of  medicinal  were  considered  to  belong  to  our  Jury,  the 
remainder  being  referred  to  Class  IV. 
Castor  Oil  and  Seeds. — The  exhibition  contains  numerous  samples  of  this 
oil,  of  which  those  produced  in  Italy  deserve  particular  attention.  This  castor 
oil  is  extracted  from  the  seed  grown  in  the  north  of  Italy,  where  the  plant  is 
doubtless  an  annual.  That  shown  by  M.  Mazzuchetti,  of  Turin,  appeared  to 
be  of  excellent  quality  ;  the  suite  of  specimens,  including  the  seeds  in  various 
states,  exhibited  by  Messrs.  Valeri  and  Co.,  of  Legnago,  province  of  Verona, 
deserves  mention.  The  latter  firm  are  stated  to  produce  by  cultivation 
2,000,000  kil.  of  seed  annually.  There  are  numerous  other  samples  of  castor- 
oil  seeds,  more  or  less  remarkable  for  their  variation  in  size,  color,  and  mark, 
ings,  contributed  by  other  countries,  frequently  accompanied  by  the  oil. 
Those  shown  by  M.  Belanger,  director  of  the  botanical  garden  at  St.  Pierre- 
Martinique,  comprising  half  a  dozen  sorts,  each  with  the  botanical  name  of 
