494 
Chaulmoogra  Oil. 
<  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\  Xovember,  1915. 
be  taken  of  some  of  the  statements  which  concern  fundamental  and 
established  facts. 
Mr.  Chattopadhyay  begins  his  communication  (loc  cit.}  p.  473) 
by  stating  that  "  Chaulmoogra  oil  of  commerce  is  obtained  from  a 
large  variety  of  seeds,"  although  subsequently  noting  that  Colonel 
Prain,2  who  was  formerly  Director  of  the  Botanic  Survey  of  India, 
but  for  several  years  past  has  been  Director  of  the  Royal  Botanic 
Gardens  at  Kew,  "  proved  that  the  oil  is  really  obtained  from  the  seeds 
of  Taraktogenos  Kurzii,  King,  a  native  of  Burmah."  It  is  further- 
more stated,  however,  that  "  the  commercial  oil  is  also  made  from 
false  chaulmoogra  seeds,  botanically  known  as  Gynocardia  odorata, 
or  more  correctly,  Chaulmoogra  odorata,  which  grows  abundantly 
in  Chittagong  and  Assam,"  and  that  "  the  chaulmoogra  seeds  bought 
from  various  shopkeepers  in  the  local  market  {i.e.,  presumably  Cal- 
cutta) were  examined  and  all  of  them  were  found  to  be  Gynocardia 
odorata."  Samples  of  the  oil  examined  by  Mr.  Chattopadhyay  were 
obtained  by  him  from  two  different  firms  in  Calcutta,  one  of  the 
products  being  described  as  of  "a  pale,  brownish-yellow  color,  of 
the  consistency  of  butter,"  while  the  other  was  "  an  oil  of  a  pale 
sherry  color,  is  liquid  at  ordinary  temperatures,  and  remains  so  even 
at  I5°C:} 
For  the  purpose  of  comment,  the  following  additional  statements 
in  Mr.  Chattopadhyay's  paper  may  be  literally  quoted : 
"  All  European  observers  describe  genuine  chaulmoogra  oil  as 
a  soft  solid  of  varying  consistency  (melting-point  22-230  C).  In- 
deed, Dr.  Power  and  Mr.  M.  Barrowcliff,3  in  their  paper  on  the 
examination  of  the  oil  of  Gynocardia  odorata,  remark  that  the  oil  of 
Gynocardia  seeds  is  a  liquid,  whereas  the  chaulmoogra  oil  of  com- 
merce {i.e.,  that  made  from  taraktogenos  seeds)  is  a  solid.  The 
above  botanical  notes  show  that  the  matter  is  in  an  unsatisfactory  con- 
dition as  to  the  exact  source  of  chaulmoogra  oil.  The  various 
analyses  by  different  observers  support  this  view.  In  my  opinion, 
the  oil  of  genuine  taraktogenos  seeds  expressed  by  cold  process  is 
liquid  at  ordinary  temperatures,  and  the  oil  obtained  by  •  hot  ex- 
pression of  these  seeds  is  solid  or  semi-solid,  whereas  the  oil  from 
Gynocardia  seeds  is  probably  semi-solid,  whether  obtained  by  cold 
or  hot  process.  These  observations  I  will  confirm  as  soon  as  I  get  the 
genuine  seeds." 
2  Now  Sir  David  Prain,  F.R.S. 
8  Journ.  Chem.  Soc,  1905,  87,  p.  897. 
