Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
August,  1898.  / 
Editorial. 
413 
plants  very  widely  separated  by  their  natural  affinities.  The  Betula  lenta  or 
sweet  birch,  secretes  it  in  the  bark  ;  the  Polygala  pauciflora  in  its  roots  ;  the 
Spircsa  ulmaria,  the  Spircsa  lobata  and  the  Gaultheria  hispidula  in  their 
roots  and  stalks." 
According  to  Ivloyd  (loc.  cit.),  Dr.  Jacob  Bigelow8  had,  previous  to  this 
anonymous  writer  and  three  years  prior  to  Pagenstecher's  work,9  described  oil  of 
wintergreen  as  occurring  in  the  bark  of  Betula  lenta,  Gaultheria  procumbens, 
G.  hispidula  ;  also  in  Spircsa  ulmaria  and  the  root  of  S.  lobata. 
In  SchimmeVs  Bericht10  we  find  the  following  summary  of  the  plants  yielding 
methyl  salicylate  : 
"  Salicylate  of  methyl  has  recently  been  detected  by  B.  Bourquelot11  in  the 
root  of  -Polygala  vulgaris,  L,.,  P.  depressa,Wender .,  and  P.  calearea,  Schulz,  as 
well  as  in  the  stalks  of  Monotropa  hypopitys,  Iy.  Bourquelot  considers  it  prob- 
able that,  as  is  also  the  case  with  the  bark  of  Betula  lenta,  the  ester  is  not 
present  in  the  above-mentioned  plants  in  the  free  state,  but  is  formed  by  the 
action  of  a  ferment  upon  a  body  analogous  to  Procter's  Gaultherin. 
' '  Salicylate  of  methyl  appears  to  occur  rather  frequently  in  the  vegetable 
kingdom  ;  so  far  as  we  are  aware,  it  has,  up  to  the  present,  been  found  in  : 
Gaultheria  procumbens,  Iv.  (flowers  and  leaves)    ....     Cahours,  1843. 
"        Punctata,  Blume  f   "       "       "  )....-» 
«        leucocarpa  »      (    «       «'       «)....  }^Vrij,  1871. 
"        Leschenaultii,  D.  C.12  (ditto)   BroughTon,  1876. 
Betula  lenta,  Willd.  (bark)   Procter,  1844. 
Polygala  Senega,  Iv.  (root)   Langbeck,  1881. 
"      alba  (root)   REUTER,  1889. 
"      vulgaris  (root)  
"      depressa,  Wender.  (root)  
-      calearea,  F.  Schulz  (root)  [  Bourquelot,  1894. 
Monotropa  hypopitys  (stalk)  
Laurus  Bzoi   n  (bark)  Schimmei,  &  Co. ,  1885. 
Spircea  Ulmaria,  I,.  (flowers)  Schneegans  and  Gerock,  1892." 
Ed.  Kremers  and  Martha  M.  James13  contribute  an  article  on  the  occurrence 
of  methyl  salicylate,  and  pains  have  been  taken  to  inquire  into  the  plants 
referred  to  by  the  different  authors.  They  state  that  "Betula  lenta,  L.,  supplies 
at  least  the  large  bulk  of  natural  methyl  salicylate  of  commerce."  "That 
Betula  alba,  L.,  yields  methyl^salicylate  apparently  has  not  been  proven."  A 
distillation  of  the  twigs  of  Benzoin  Benzoin  (Iv.),  Coulter,  collected  in  the  fall 
did  not  yield  the  authors  any  methyl  salicylate.  The  authors  also  bring 
together  the  literature  showing  that  methyl  salicylate  has  been  obtained  by 
various  authors  from  the  following  plants  :  Erythroxylon  coca,  Lam.,  and  E. 
Bolivianum  ;14  Polygala  Senega  Iv.,15  P.  Senega,  Iv.,  var.  latifolia,  Torrey  and 
8  Amer.  Med.  Pot.,  II,  p.  28,  Boston,  1818. 
9  Rep.f.  d.  Pharm.,  1834,  p.  337  ;  see  also  Procter,  Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.,  1842,  p.  211. 
10 Semz- Annual  Report  of  Schimmel  &  Co.,  April,  1895,  p.  73. 
11  Comptes  rendus,  CXTX,  p.  802. 
12"Probably  identical  with  G.  punctata,  Blume." 
13  Pharm.  Review,  1898,  p.  100. 
14  Schimmel' s  Report,  1895  (Oct.),  p.  50. 
15I<angbeck,  in  Pharm.  Zeit.,  1881,  p.  261. 
