Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
May,  1921.  ) 
Pelargonium-Oil. 
305 
305),  the  species  chiefly  cultivated  in  Algeria  are  P.  capitatum, 
which  was  introduced  into  England  from  the  Cape,  in'  1690,  and,  to 
a  smaller  degree,  P.  odoratissimum  and  P.  fragans,  which  also 
produce  a  good  oil,  but  whose  cultivation  is  not  profitable,  owing  to 
the  small  size  of  the  leaves.  Holmes  (p.  239)  says  that  several 
species  of  the  genus  are  cultivated.  According  to  Cordemoy  (p. 
170),  only  P.  capitatum  is  grown  on  the  Isle  of  Reunion.  Likewise 
Charabot  and  Gatin  (p.  289)  report  that  the  plant  is  generally  named 
P.  capitatum,  but  add  that  is  was  determined  in  the  Museum  of 
Paris  as  P.  graveolens  Ait.  =  terebinthaCeum  Cav.  The  two  authors 
admit  that-  perhaps  several  species  come  into  consideration. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  classification  offers  great  difficulties. 
The  name  P.  capitatum,  is  certainly  false,  because  the  species  is  to- 
tally different,  in  the  form  of  its  leaves,  from  the  rose-geranium, 
which  is  cultivated  in  Algeria  and  on  the  Isle  of  Reunion.  The  plant 
must  doubtless  be  placed  in  the  group  of  P.  graveolens  l'Her.  It  is 
true,  plants  of  different  localities  show  differences,  which  are  not 
insignificant.  They  may  be  considered  either  as  varieties  of  culti- 
vation, or  as  hybrids  of  other  species,  whose  origin  is  now  un- 
known or  has  been  forgotten  long  since.  To  understand  this,  it 
may  be  remembered  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century 
there  was  a  sort  of  fad  to  hybridize  pelargonium  species,  so  that, 
for  instance,  the  Geraniacece  of  Sweet  (1820-1830)  contain  almost 
500  of  such  artificial  hybrids,  whose  origin  already  at  that  time  had 
been  partly  unknown.  In  the  course  of  time,  the  origin  of  each 
cross  became  more  and  more  obscure,  so  that  at  the  present  time  we 
are  unable  to  determine  the  exact  origin  of  a  large  part  of  the  pelar- 
goniums found  in  our  botanical  gardens.  This  is  especially  the  case 
in  regard  to  the  species  which  were  called  lemon-geraniums  as  early 
as  the  time  of  Sweet,  and  with  which  the  rose-geranium  must  be 
included. 
Andrews,  in  his  Geraniums  (1805),  gives  under  the  name  of 
Geranium  capitatum  et  varietas  a  table  containing  two  pelargoniums, 
one  of  which  is  closely  related  to  Pelargonium  capitatum  and  per- 
haps identical  with  it.  The  other  variety,  however,  seems  to  be  re- 
lated to  the  rose-geranium.  The  species  represented  in  his  plate 
bears  the  name  of  rose-scented  geranium,  the  variety  that  of  Otto 
of  roses,  a  name  probably  due  to  the  mistake  of  a  gardener.  It  is 
not  impossible  that  the  latter  had  been  one  of  the  original  plants  of 
