Am.  Jour.  Pharm  |       Jafanese  Oil  of  Peppennint.  313 
July,  1875. 
90°,  and  the  solution  agitated  with  4  grams  of  ether  and  8  grams  of 
water.  The  ether  does  not  separate,  and  the  mixture  is  allowed  to  rest 
in  a  cool  place  during  the  night.  The  next  day  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  digitalin  (about  four  fifths),  will  be  found  deposited  in  white  needle- 
shaped  crystals,  which  are  to  be  thrown  on  a  filter  and  washed  with 
ether.  The  crystals  may  be  further  purified,  if  necessary,  by  treat- 
ment with  alcohol  and  animal  charcoal  as  before. — Jour.  Chem.  Soc.^ 
March,  1875,  from  J.  Pharm,  Chim.^  [4],  xx,  81-87. 
SOLID  AND  LIQUID  JAPANESE  OIL  OF  PEPPERMINT  * 
BY  JOHN  MACKAY. 
Early  in  the  present  session  some  remarks  were  made  at  one  of  the 
evening  meetings  in  London  by  Mr.  Moss,  F.  C.  S.,  on  Japanese  oil 
of  peppermint. 
The  subject  appeared  to  me  to  be  of  considerable  interest,  and  I 
made  efforts  to  obtain  specimens  of  both  liquid  and  solid  oils.  These 
are  now  on  the  table,  and  have  been  kindly  supplied  by  the  same  par- 
ties (Cyriax  &  Farries)  who  gave  them  to  Mr.  Moss.  As  I  am  per- 
mitted to  dispose  of  them  in  any  way  I  think  fit,  it  gives  me  much 
pleasure  to  hand  them  over  to  our  museum. 
Let  me  now  place  before  you  the  principal  facts  known  about  these 
oils,  chiefly  derived  from  the  paper  already  referred  to  and  other 
sources : 
1.  The  oils  appear  to  have  come  over  from  Japan  in  cylindrical  tin 
canisters,  and  up  to  the  present  time  the  quantities  received  in  this 
country  have  not  been  intended  for  sale,  being  small,  and  sent  more  for 
curiosity  and  for  specimens. 
2.  The  solid  portion,  though  called  crystallized  oil  of  peppermint, 
appears  to  be  simply  a  deposit  from  the  original  liquid  oil,  probably  at 
a  low  temperature. 
3.  About  thirteen  years  ago  a  memoir  on  crystallized  oil  of  pepper- 
mint was  presented  to  the  London  Chemical  Society  by  Oppenheim. 
This  chemist  speaks  of  the  article  as  coming  over  here  in  considerable 
quantity,  adulterated  to  the  extent  of  10  or  20  per  cent,  with  sulphate 
of  magnesium.  In  this  statement,  however,  there  seems  to  be  some 
error,  because,  after  many  inquiries,  no  traces  can  be  found  of  this 
*Read  at  a  meeting  of  the  North  British  Branch  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society 
of  Great  Britain,  March  26th,  1875. 
