AOctJoTerr;Pi9ai9m')  Western  Australian  Sandalwood  Oil.  691 
showing  that  the  genus  Fusanus  approaches  so  closely  the  genus 
Santalinn  that,  if  finely  drawn  distinctions  are  waived,  it  may  be 
regarded  as  identical  with  it  and  is  merely  a  synonym  as  the  Kew 
Index  shows.  Mr.  Lane-Poole  mentions  that  the  western  Australian 
sandalwood  tree  yields  a  sandalwood  oil  which  is  practically  iden- 
tical, chemically  and  pharmacologically,  with  that  obtained  from 
sandalwood  from  other  sources  of  supply.  Continuing  he  says  that : 
"  Discussion  as  to  verbal  differences  in  botanical  classification  of 
western  Australian  sandalwood  reaches  satisfactory  finality  when 
the  oil  obtained  from  the  trees  comes  under  notice.  Many  years 
ago,  when  sandalwood  was  fairly  plentiful  in  those  areas  of  western 
Australia  now  occupied  almost  exclusively  by  agriculturists,  sandal- 
wood oil  was  manufactured ;  but  for  various  reasons  the  trade  was 
never  developed.  Of  recent  years  a  start  has  again  been  made,  and 
an  oil  produced  which  has  found  a  ready  sale.  The  santalol  con- 
tent of  the  western  Australian  oil  varies  from  75  to  80  per  cent.,  but 
the  oil  has  not  yet  been  officially  recognized  by  the  British  and  Amer- 
ican Pharmacopoeias  because  there  has  hitherto  been  present  in  it  a 
certain  small  percentage  of  sesquiterpene  ethyl.  Therapeutically, 
the  presence  of  this  foreign  element  has  formed  no  bar  to  its  suc- 
cess. The  oil  has  been,  and  is,  used  in  the  Public  Hospital  at  Perth 
and  in  other  hospitals  in  Australia,  and  there  is  evidence  that  the 
sesquiterpene  ethyl  is  as  actively  curative  as  the  santalol  in  the  oil. 
But  its  presence  was  held  to  place  the  oil  below  the  standard  de- 
manded by  the  Pharmacopoeias.  The  manufacturer  here,  having 
found  ready  sale  for  his  product  at  fair  prices,  did  not  at  the  outset 
attach  much  importance  to  the  foreign  element  in  his  oil.  But  the 
increased  demand  arising  through  the  war  induced  him  to  make 
efforts  to  bring  his  product  up  to  British  Pharmacopoeia  require- 
ments. With  this  view  he  submitted  it  to  a  chemist  of  repute  in 
London,  and  has,  within  the  last  few  months,  learned  that  a  process 
has  been  found  which  entirely  eliminates  the  sesquiterpene  ethyl, 
thus  at  once  placing  the  western  Australian  product  on  a  par  with 
Mysore  oil  and  meeting  the  B.  P.  standard.  The  figures  given  in 
the  Bulletin  note  as  to  the  value  of  the  sandalwood  exported  from 
western  Australia  prove  that  the  wood  finds  ready  markets,  but 
whether  the  whole  of  the  export  is  used  in  perfumery,  carving,  and 
for  ceremonial  purposes,  or  is  used  in  part  for  the  production  of 
1  Indian '  oil,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  In  view  of  the  decision  of  the 
Mysore  government  to  increase  its  output  of  sandalwood  oil  and  in 
