GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  FRENCH  JOURNALS. 
301 
Researches  on  the  Volatile  and  fixed  oil  of  the  fruit  of  Sam- 
phire (Crithmum  maritimum.  By  M.  Herouard. — The  samphire 
is  an  umbelliferous  plant  growing  abundantly  on  the  rocky  coasts 
of  France  and  England.  All  parts  of  the  plant  are  aromatic 
and  it  is  used  as  an  ingredient  in  flavoring  pickles,  etc.  The 
most  favorable  time  for  the  extraction  of  the  volatile  oil  is  from 
the  10th  of  September  to  the  15th  of  October,  and  the  fruits 
yield  1*5  to  1*6  per  cent  of  the  oil. 
The  oil  of  samphire  (criste  marine)  is  composed  of  a  light  and 
a  heavy  oil,  the  latter  separating  from  the  milky  distilled  water 
on  standing,  the  former,  which  is  the  aromatic  oil  of  the  plant, 
floating  on  top.  This  is  limpid  and  mobile  when  recent,  has  a 
sweet  odor  and  hot  aromatic  taste.  It  boils  at  about  850°  Fahr. 
Its  sp.  gravity  is  980°  at  55°  F.  It  is  oxidized  by  the  air,  be- 
comes thick  and  heavier  than  water  ;  when  recent,  it  remains 
fluid  at  49°  Fahr.,  but  the  old  oils  deposits  silky  needles  when 
cooled.  Further  investigation  found  this  body  to  be  a  result  of 
oxidation,  and  to  be  an  acid,  and  the  oil  itself  to  yield,  by  the  ac- 
tion of  weak  nitric  acid,  a  hyduret  of  a  compound  radical  paral- 
lel with  benzyl,  which  he  calls  crithmyle,  and  which  forms  com- 
binations with  chlorine,  bromine  and  iodine.  The  acid  by  oxi- 
dation is  crithmic  acid. 
Hyduret  of  Crithmyle  is  an  oily  brown  liquid  of  sp.  gr.  1*07, 
has  an  aromatic  odor  of  the  plant ;  its  taste  acrid  and  burning, 
affecting  the  throat  strongly  ;  it  is  insoluble  in  water  but  readily 
soluble  in  alcohol  and  ether,  and  burns  with  a  sooty  flame. 
Crithmic  Acid  presents  the  form  of  colorless  brilliant  prismatic 
needles  which  resemble  those  of  benzoic  acid,  a  taste  lightly  acid, 
no  odor,  volatile  without  decomposition.  Slightly  soluble  in  cold 
water,  more  soluble  in  hot  water,  and  readily  in  alcohol  and  ether 
and  in  the  oil  of  samphire,  from  which  it  is  derived. 
The  fixed  oil  of  the  fruit  is  siccative  of  an  orange  yellow  color, 
and  oxidizes  readily  in  the  air  to  a  brown  soft  solid. — Jour,  de 
Pharm  ,  Mai,  1866,  324. 
Orange  leaf  water  as  an  adulteration  of  orange  flower  water. 
— M.  Gobley,  (Jour,  de  Pharm.,  Avril,  1866,  249,)  says  that 
water  distilled  from  orange  leaves  is  sometimes  substituted  for  er 
