Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Oct.,  1886. 
Buchu  and  Oil  of  Buchu. 
475 
ON  BUCHU  AND  OIL  OF  BUCHU. 
By  R.  Spica,  Pkofessor- at  the  Royal  Institute  op  Venice. 
Translated  and  abridged  from  Annali  di  Chim.  Med.  Farmac,  1885,  p.  233, 
by  Joseph  W.  England,  Ph.  G. 
In  1827  Cadet  de  Gassicourt  (Jour,  de  Pharm.,  xiii,  106)  found  that 
100  parts  of  buchu  leaves  contain  0*6  to  0'8  parts  of  an  ethereal,  yellow 
oil,  lighter  than  water,  21*17  parts  of  gum,  5*17  parts  of  extractive, 
1*1  parts  of  chlorophyll  and  2*15  parts  of  resin.  Brandes  (Arch. 
Pharm.,  1827,  xxiii,  229)  prepared,  besides  the  ethereal  oil,  etc.,  a  glu- 
tinous, amorphous  substance,  soluble  in  water,  chemically  allied  to  colo- 
cynthin  and  cathartin,  which  he  called  diosmin.  Bedford  obtained 
from  the  leaves  of  B.  serratifolia,  0.66  per  cent,  of  volatile  oil  and  from 
B.  crenata  and  B.  betulina  1*21  per  cent.  Landerer  (Buchn.  Repert., 
1830,  xxxiv,  63),  by  extraction  with  alcohol,  found  a  crystalline  body, 
insoluble  in  water,  to  which  he  gave,  also,  the  name  diosmin.  Jones, 
(Pharm.  J.  Trans.,  1879,  ix,  673)  determined  the  quantities  of  ash  in 
the  several  species  to  be  from  4  to  5*5  per  cent.,  containing  a  large  quantity 
of  manganese,  and  by  successive  treatment  with  solvents,  ascertained 
that  3*8  to  5*86  per  cent,  was  soluble  in  ether,  7*7  to  15*7  per  cent,  in 
alcohol  and  13*9  to  22*38  per  cent,  in  water.  Wayne  (Am.  Jour. 
Phar.,  1876,  p.  18)  found  that  the  ethereal  oil,  treated  with  caustic 
soda,  and  then  with  hydrochloric  acid,  gave  crystals,  which  he  claimed 
were  salicylic  acid.  Fliickiger,  whose  researches  (J.  Pharm.,  1880,ii,  404 
and  Pharm.  J.  Trans.,  1880,  No.  533,  p.  219)  are  very  important,  made 
his  experiments  upon  B.  betulina,  using  the  ethereal  oil  obtained  from 
35  kilograms  of  leaves,  (180  gm.  of  oil),  from  which  he  secured  a  solid 
crystalline  body,  fusing  at  83°  C,  boiling  at  233°  C,  which  he  called 
diosphenol,  and  ascertained  the  chemical  formula  to  be  C14H2203* 
also,  an  oil  isomeric  with  borneol  C10H18O,  boiling  at  from  205°  to  208° 
C.  J.  M.  Maisch,  finally,  studying  the  ethereal  oil  of  B.  betulina,  (Am. 
Jour.  Phar.,  1881,  p.  331),  confirmed  the  data  of  Fliickiger  and 
disproved  Wayne's  statement  concerning  the  presence  of  salicylic  acid, 
which,  while  sometimes  present,  was  thought  to  be  due  either  to  fer- 
mentation or  to  the  presence  of  other  leaves  among  the  buchu  examined.1 
1  In  the  translator's  opinion,  if  the  results  of  Prof.  Spica,  be  accepted,  the 
more  probable  theory  would  seem  to  be,  that  salicylic  acid  does  not  pre-exist 
in  the  leaves ;  but  since  a  portion  or  all  of  the  elaeopten  and  the  stearopten  is 
of  phenylic  origin,  that  that  portion  is  decomposed,  first,  by  the  added  soda,  to 
form  sodium  salicylate  and  then,  by  the  hydrochloric  acid,  to  form  salicylic  acid, 
