242 
Pharmacognosy  of  Cubeb. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\       May,  1913. 
from  which  the  oil  was  derived  submitted  them  to  his  assistant, 
Mr.  H.  V.  Potter.  They  were  subsequently  very  thoroughly  studied 
by  E.  M.  Holmes,  Curator  of  the  Museum  Department,  Pharma- 
ceutical Society  of  Great  Britain,  who  found  that  they  were  a  very 
mixed  lot.  In  fact  he  found  in  the  specimens  submitted,  similar 
fruits  to  those  which  he  had  already  described  on  May  2,  1885 
(Pharm.  Jour.,  3,  xv,  p.  909)  as  being  admixed  with  a  lot  of 
genuine  cubebs  examined  by  him  at  that  time.  These  spurious 
fruits  possess  a  mace-like  odor,  do  not  give  a  crimson  coloration 
with  sulphuric  acid  and  indeed  possess  poisonous  properties.  It 
was  due  to  the  presence  of  these  spurious  fruits  that  the  Amsterdam 
oil,  referred  to,  owed  its  low  optical  properties.  These  spurious 
fruits  were  at  one  time  supposed  to  be  derived  from  Piper  crassipes. 
They  have  since  been  referred  to  as  a  variety,  Rinoe  badak.  In  all 
probability  they  are  a  distinct  species,  differing  in  both  odor  and 
structure  of  the  fruit,  from  any  of  the  Piper  Cnbebas.  While 
classed  as  a  Cubeb  by  the  Java  Dutch,  they  nevertheless  recognize 
it  as  distinct.  The  genuine  cubebs  Piper  Cubeba  var.  Rinoe 
Katoentjar  and  the  larger  stalked  Piper  Cubeba  var.  Rince 
tjaloeroek,  are  easily  distinguished  by  the  fact  that  they  give  a 
crimson  coloration  upon  the  addition  of  sulphuric  acid  while  the 
spurious  article,  Piper  Cubeba  var.  Rinoe  badak  does  not. 
Mr.  Holmes  has  contributed  a  number  of  valuable  papers  during 
the  past  25  years  upon  the  pharmacognosy  and  commerce  of  cubebs. 
A  complete  summary  of  his  work  with  that  of  other  investigators 
(who,  in  many  instances,  have  been  supplied  with  material  by  him) 
is  published  in  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  88,  1912,  p.  604.  This 
work  has  been  very  painstaking  and  ought  to  interest  pharmacists, 
general  wholesale  dealers,  and  brokers  in  particular.  It  should 
be  mentioned  that  there  are  two  other  recent  articles  on  cubebs  by 
Mr.  Holmes  which  should  be  consulted,  viz.,  those  published  in 
the  Perfumery  and  Essential  Oil  Record,  3  (1912)  p.  64  and  5 
(1912)  p.  125. 
Owing  to  the  confusion  among  writers  of  textbooks,  as  seen  by 
their  illustrations  of  cubeb  fruits,  Mr.  Holmes  prevailed  upon  Mr. 
J.  Small  to  make  a  comparative  study  of  different  fruits  in  the 
herbarium  and  museum  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great 
Britain.  He  then  examined  a  number  of  commercial  samples.  Out 
of  five  commercial  samples,  four  proved  to  be  heavily  adulterated 
with  fruits  of  P.  C.  var.  Rinoe  badak  (Pharm.  Jour.  88,  1912,  p.  639). 
