260  Fragrant  Woods,  {Ami£^r,i8^Tnr 
with  plain  water  or  lime  water  in  the  proportion  of  one  of  the  latter  to 
three  of  the  oil  ;  or  if,  as  is  customary,  the  emulsion  is  intended  to 
contain  the  hypophosphites  of  lime  or  soda,  let  these  be  added  to  the 
plain  water  previous  to  mixing  with  the  oil,  and  then  let  this  primary 
emulsion  be  gradually  added  to  the  mucilage  of  tragacanth  with  con- 
stant stirring.  In  the  process  of  mixing,  the  emulsion  not  only  creams 
but  also  thickens  up  to  a  certain  point,  and  individual  taste  must  settle 
the  extent  to  which  the  mixture  may  be  carried.  I  have  found  the 
three  drachms  of  tragacanth  emulsify  from  50  to  80  ounces  of  what  I 
have  called  the  primary  emulsion,  the  former  quantity  being  very  thick 
and  not  easily  poured  from  the  mortar,  the  latter  quantity  flowing  more 
freely  and  forming  what  I  consider  the  better  emulsion.  In  mixing  the 
oil  with  the  mucilage  of  tragacanth  care  must  be  taken  not  to  add  it 
too  hurriedly  else  it  will  not  emulsify.  The  mixture  will  simply  break 
up  into  a  clotted  mass  and  no  amount  of  labor  apparently  will  bring  it 
back  to  the  emulsified  form.  Under  these  circumstances  the  better 
way  is  at  once  to  begin  again  with  a  small  quantity  of  fresh  mucilage,, 
to  which  the  clotted  mass  should  be  carefully  added  by  degrees.  In 
this  way  only  can  the  emulsion  be  brought  back  to  its  proper  form. — 
Pharm.  Jour.  [Lond.],  March  22,  1879. 
FRAGRANT  WOODS. 
By  P.  L.  Simmonds. 
The  properties  and  uses  of  woods  are  various,-  some  are  sought  for  their  beauty 
and  utility  for  the  cabinet-maker  or  pianoforte  manufacturer,  some  for  their  adapta- 
bility for  carving  or  engraving  on,  others  for  their  coloring  properties,  and  some  for 
their  medicinal  uses.  There  are  a  few,  however,  which  have  the  rare  attraction  of 
being  fragrant  and  odorous,  and  hence  are  valued  for  small  and  special  fancy  articles 
for  ladies'  use,  or  for  the  purposes  of  the  perfumer,  who  distils  pleasant  scents  from 
them.  Although  fragrant  odors  are  very  generally  diffused  over  the  vegetable  king- 
dom, yet  they  are  not  often  centered  in  the  woody  fibre  of  plants.  We  know  these 
odors  well  in  flowers,  and  we  find  them  strongly  diffused  in  many  aromatic  leaves, 
as  the  lemon  and  citronelle  grasses,  the  leaves  of  the  Faham  orchid  {Angrxcum  fra- 
grans),  and  of  the  Eucalyptus  citriodora,  and  E.  odorata.  Sometimes  the  pleasant 
odor  or  pungent  flavor  is  concentrated  in  the  seeds  and  seed-vessels,  as  in  the  nutmeg, 
the  tonquin  bean  [Dipterix  odorata),  the  musk  seed  (Abelmoschus  moschatus),  the 
odoriferous  seeds  of  Oxydendron  Cuyumany  (Nees),  the  vanilla  pods,  and  those  of 
Myrospermum  frutescens  (Jacq.),  etc.,  of  South  America.  In  several  trees  the  aro- 
matic principle  is  strongest  in  the  barks,  as  in  cassia  and  cinnamon,  the  sassafras  of 
