186 
Patchouli  Leaves  and  Oil. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1888. 
3s.  per,oz.  The  wholesale  drug  firms  value  the  selected  leaves  at  Is. 
per  lb.,  and  the  flowering  tops  at  4d.  to  5d.  per  lb.  The  adulterant, 
they  say,  is  not  known  in  the  market,  and  is  quite  worthless.  Lastly, 
the  Mincing  Lane  importer  estimates  the  picked  leaves  at  Is.  to  Is.  3c?., 
the  tops  at  9(i.  to  Is.,  and  the  oil,  if  pure,  at  3s.  to  3s.  9(i.  per  oz. 
He  also  believes  that  from  10  to  20  tons  of  good  leaves  would  find  a 
brisk  sale  in  London,  while  the  wholesale  druggists,  on  the  other 
hand,  advise  shippers  to  be  careful  in  not  overloading  the  market,  as 
a  shipment  of,  say,  20  tons  would  probably  cause  prices  to  decline. 
Whichever  of  these  three  advisers  may  be  nearest  the  truth,  it  is 
pretty  certain  that  patchouli  is  one  of  the  few  articles  for  which,  at 
this  moment,  the  demand  exceeds  the  supply,  and  if  shipments  of  good 
picked  leaves  could  be  quickly  made  to  London,  which  is  the  central 
market,  and  whence  the  distillers  in  Germany  and  Southern  France, 
as  well  as  the  American  consumers,  draw  their  requirements,  the  ship- 
pers would  be  able  to  pocket  a  very  good  .  profit.  But  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  we  shall  soon  receive  supplies  of  patchouli  leaves  and 
oil  from  other  than  the  accustomed  quarters.  In  1886  only  5,280  oz. 
of  oil  and  some  1 8  cwt.  of  leaves  were  exported  from  Penang,  whereas 
a  few  years  previously  the  imports  of  leaves  alone  in  London  reached 
between  600  and  800  cwt.  per  annum.  In  1886  a  large  German  firm, 
with  the  idea  of  emancipating  our  market  from  its  dependency  upon 
the  East,  forwarded  a  supply  of  seeds  to  Paragua}',  in  South  America, 
and,  although  the  head  of  the  Straits  Settlement  Forest  Department 
reports  that  plants  raised  from  seed  are  said  to  have  no  scent,  but 
they  retain  it  when  produced  from  cutting,'^  the  German  house  seem 
confident  that  their  efforts  will  be  successful.  Patchouli-growing  is 
also  being  tried  in  the  island  of  Dominica,  and  we  hear  that  experi- 
ments are  said  to  have  been  set  on  foot  in  Guadaloupe,  Martinique, 
and  other  French  West  Indian  possessions.  Some  years  ago  supplies 
of  patchouli  leaves  of  very  good  appearance,  though  somewhat  defi- 
cient in  aroma,  used  to  be  imported  into  Europe  from  Java,  but  this 
source  appears  to  have  dried  up  lately.  A  few  months  ago  inquiries 
were  made  at  Kew  by  the  India  Office  whether  patchouli  was  known 
to  grow  to  any  extent  in  Assam  and  on  the  Khasia  Hills,  and  whether 
it  could  be  cultivated  in  Bengal.  To  these  inquiries  reply  was  given 
that  Professor  Oliver,  of  Kew,  thinks  it  doubtful  whether  the  pat- 
chouli plant  is  indigenous  in  India  at  all,  a  view  shared  by  Mr.  This- 
elton  Dyer,  who  adds  that  he  thinks  it  probable  that  China  may 
