496 
Chaulmoogra  Oil. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\  November,  1916. 
45°,  about  0.940;  saponification  value,  198  to  213;  iodine  value,  96 
to  104;  acid  value,  21  to  27." 
From  the  above-noted  melting-point  (22-300  C.  or  71. 6-86°  F.) 
it  is  evident  that,  at  what  may  be  regarded  as  ordinary  atmospheric 
temperatures,  chaulmoogra  oil  would  be  a  soft  solid,  although  Mr. 
Chattopadhyay  has  stated  that  one  of  the  samples  of  oil  examined 
by  him  was  liquid  and  remained  so,  even  at  150  C. 
The  oils  expressed  from  perfectly  authenticated  seeds  of  Hydno- 
carpus  Wightiana,  Blume,  and  Hydnocarpus  anthelmintic  a,  Pierre, 
which  were  also  subjected  to  a  complete  chemical  examination  by 
the  present  author  and  his  associates,6  were  found  to  resemble  chaul- 
moogra oil  very  closely,  both  in  their  physical  characters  and  chem- 
ical composition.  Their  medicinal  properties  would  therefore  doubt- 
less be  very  similar  to  those  of  the  oil  obtained  from  Taraktogenos 
seeds.  In  this  connection  it  would  appear  of  interest  to  recall  the 
fact  that  a  few  years  ago  several  cases  of  poisoning  occurred  in 
Germany  through  the  use  of  margarine  prepared  from  so-called 
"  cardamon  oil  "  or  "  maratti  fat,"  which  had  been  imported  from 
India.  By  means  of  the  above-mentioned  investigations  it  was  as- 
certained that  this  fat  agreed  in  its  characters  with  that  obtained 
from  Hydnocarpus  seeds,  and  its  identification  as  such  was  readily 
confirmed  by  the  isolation  of  the  crystalline,  optically  active  chaul- 
moogric  acid,  C18H3202  (melting-point  68°  C),  to  which  further 
reference  will  subsequently  be  made. 
The  statement  of  Mr.  Chattopadhyay  (loc.  cit.,  p.  474)  that  "  the 
chaulmoogra  seeds  bought  from  various  shopkeepers  in  the  local 
market  (Calcutta)  were  examined  and  all  of  them  found  to  be 
Gynocardia  odorata/'  taken  in  conjunction  with  his  expressed  opin- 
ion {loc.  cit.,  p.  475)  that  "  the  oil  from  Gynocardia  seeds  is  prob- 
ably semi-solid,  whether  obtained  by  hot  or  cold  process,"  would 
appear  to  render  it  very  doubtful  whether  the  seeds  referred  to  by  him 
were  really  those  of  Gynocardia  odorata.  The  doubt  respecting  their 
proper  identification  is  justified  and  sustained  by  the  following  facts. 
Inasmuch  as  the  seeds  of  Gynocardia  odorata  had  long  been  con- 
sidered to  be  the  source  of  chaulmoogra  oil,  it  was  deemed  desirable 
by  the  present  author  and  his  associates,  after  the  complete  investi- 
gation of  Taraktogenos  oil,  also  to  examine  the  oil  from  authentic 
Gynocardia  seeds.  In  order  to  obtain  the  latter,  application  was 
made  to  Dr.  David  Hooper,  who  was  at  that  time  curator  of  the 
6Journ.  Chem.  Soc,  1905,  87,  pp.  884-896. 
