630 
Margosa  Oil. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec.,lS8S. 
Margosa  bark  was  examined  by  Cornish  in  1857/  who  isolated  an 
alkaloid,  which  he  described  under  the  name  of  "  margosin.'^  The 
later  researches  of  Broughton/  however,  indicate  that  Cornish's  bitter 
alkaloid  is  probably  an  amorphous  resin.  From  the  bitter  oil  of  the 
seeds  Cornish  extracted  an  acid  which  he  termed  margosic  acid/'  but 
which  he  doubted  to  be  capable  of  aiFording  crystallizable  salts.^  Le- 
pine,*  who  examined  the  oil,  found  it  to  have  a  specific  gravity  of  '921, 
and  he  describes  it  as  possessing  a  bitter  taste  and  a  garlic-like  odor, 
to  congeal  at  +  7°  C,  and  to  yield  by  saponification  35  per  cent,  of 
fatty  acids,  melting  at  30°  C,  and  65  per  cent.,  melting  at  44°  C. 
Subsequent  writers  on  Indian  materia  medica  have  quoted  Lepine's 
results,  but  as  far  as  I  am  aware  no  additions  to  Lepine's  results  have 
been  published. 
The  margosa  oil  used  in  the  investigation  described  in  this  com- 
munication was  obtained  by  expression  in  my  laboratory ;  there  can 
therefore  be  no  doubt  regarding  the  genuineness  of  the  sample.  The 
fruit  was  washed  to  separate  pulp,  the  stones  dried,  cracked,  and  the 
almonds  exposed  to  a  gentle  heat  for  some  time  to  remove  moisture. 
The  dried  almonds  were  then  crushed,  placed  in  a  cloth  bag,  and  the 
oil  expressed.  It  was  found  very  necessary  to  first  dry  the  almonds 
before  subjecting  them  to  pressure ;  without  adopting  this  precaution 
a  white  creamy  fluid  was  obtained,  instead  of  clear  oil,  from  which  it 
was  subsequently  impossible  to  separate  the  oil,  except  by  ether  or 
other  solvent. 
The  oil  thus  obtained  was  filtered  through  filter  paper  before  it  was 
examined.  Directly  after  filtration  the  oil,  when  viewed  in  bulk,  had 
a  slight  greenish  coloration  by  transmitted  light,  owing  to  some  of  the 
almonds  not  having  been  quite  ripe,  and  to  solution  of  traces  of  chloro- 
phyll in  the  oil.  Viewed  in  a  thin  stratum  the  color  of  the  oil  was 
yellowish.  The  oil  possessed  a  powerful  garlic-like  odor,  and  was  very 
bitter.  The  specific  gravity  at  15-5°  C.  was  9235  ;  at  about  10°-7°  C. 
the  oil  congeals,  without  losing  its  transparency.  After  standing  for 
about  thirty-six  hours  the  recently  expressed  oil  deposited  a  white 
sediment,  which  examined  microscopically  was  found  to  be  amor^ 
phous. 
^ '  Indian  Annals  of  Medical  Science,'  iv. ;  Americax  Journal  Pharmacy. 
1858,  p.  126. 
2  Pharm.  Journ.,  June  14,  1873. 
2  *  Pharmacographia.' 
^Gmelin's  'Handbook  of  Chemistry,'  vol.  xvii.,  p.  94. 
