Am.  Jour.  Pharm) 
Sept.,  1876.  ; 
1  he  International  Exposition. 
417 
oil,"  is  obtained  from  the  seeds  of  Aleurites  cordata,  Muller  (syn.  Dry- 
andra  cordata,  Thunb.,  Elaeococca  Vernicia,  Sprgl.,  E.  verrucosa,  A. 
Juss.),  a  euphorbiaceous  tree.  The  tree  is  common  in  China  and 
Japan,  of  very  characteristic  appearance,  and  is  known  in  China  as  the 
*'  tung  tree."  The  oils  from  the  seeds  of  Ricinus  and  Croton  Tiglium 
differ  in  chemical  properties  and  physiological  action  from  most  known 
oils  ;  how  far  such  peculiarities  occur  principally  in  the  Euphorbiaceae 
is  a  question  that  yet  requires  answering. 
That  the^"  wood  oil  "  from  the  Tung  tree  is  a  fat  worthy  of  notice 
is  shown  by  the  experiments  of  Cloez.  This  chemist  obtained  from 
the  seeds  of  Aleurites  cordata,  by  means  of  carbon  bisulphide,  41  per 
cent,  of  a  fixed  oil,  forming  a  solid  crystalline  mass  below  32°C. 
When  on  the  [contrary  the  seeds  were  treated  with  ether  an  oil  was 
obtained  that  did  not  solidify  even  at  180  C.  But  what  is  most  sur- 
prising is  that  when  prepared  either  by  pressure  or  by  one  of  the  sol- 
vents mentioned,  and  heated  in  the  air  to  2000  C,  it  changes  suddenly 
into  a  solid  transparent  jelly,  which  is  no  longer  soluble  in  ether  or 
carbon  bisulphide. 1  This  change  takes  place  also  after  a  few  days, 
when  excluded  from  the  air,  under  the  influence  of  light  alone.  The 
oil  dries  more  rapidly  than  linseed  oil.  The  principal  acid  in  it  was 
obtained  in  crystals  that  melted  at  440,  but  very  rapidly  resinifled,  and 
therefore  did  not  consist  of  linoleic  acid. 
In  many  respects  this  Chinese  wood  oil  recalls  the  singular  "axin" 
or  "age"  of  Mexico,  examined  by  Hoppe-Seyler,  in  i860.2  The 
Nin  fat  of  Yucatan,  described  by  Donde,  3  might  also  be  mentioned 
here.  All  these  oils  appear  to  correspond  in  yielding  a  peculiar  body, 
which  Mulder  describes  as  linoxyn. — Pharm.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  July  1, 
1876.   
NOTES  ON  THE  INTERNATIONAL  EXPOSITION. 
BY  THE  EDITOR. 
IV. 
Among  the  most  important  staple  articles  in  the  line  of  crude  drugs  is  opium, 
which  is  very  well  represented  at  the  Exposition  in  its  various  commercial  varieties, 
as  well  as  in  some  samples  showing  the  result  of  the  experimental  culture  of  the 
poppy. 
1  "  Comptes  Rendus,"  Sept.  1875,  P-  4^9>  and  1876,  p.  501. 
2  Gmelin,  vol.  vii.,  p.  1471. 
3  "  Pharm.  Journ.,"  [3],  iv.,  836. 
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