THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
JANUARY,  igoi. 
ADULTERATIONS  OF  ESSENTIAL  OILS. 
By  Dr.  Geo.  R.  Pancoast  and  Lyman  F.  Kebi<er. 
In  early  times  technical  equipments  for  the  production  of  volatile 
oils  were  very  incomplete,  and  various  expedients  were  necessarily- 
resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  extracting  the  many  odorous  princi- 
ples from  the  host  of  plant  tissues;  fatty  products,  turpentine  and 
alcohol  were  frequently  employed  for  this  purpose,  and  consequently 
there  was  a  certain  justification  formerly  for  the  presence  of  some 
of  these  solvents  in  certain  essential  oils.  But  modern  methods 
render  the  use  of  these  foreign  substances  entirely  unnecessary  and 
they  must  be  looked  upon  as  adulterations  pure  and  simple. 
Adulteration  is  chiefly  resorted  to  on  the  one  hand  because  of  its 
profitableness,  and  on  the  other  hand  because  of  the  ignorance  of 
the  consumer  and  his  desire  to  purchase  as  cheaply  as  possible. 
The  latter  frequently  does  not  seem  to  care  for  quality,  but  wants 
quantity.  It  is  often  due  to  this  that  an  honest  producer  may  be 
induced  to  offer  spurious  goods,  because  he  cannot  get  reasonable 
prices,  while  his  competitor  is  able  to  dispose  of  large  quantities  of 
adulterated  oils.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  formerly  the  adul- 
terator could  ply  his  art  fearlessly  without  much  danger  of  exposure, 
and  this  probably  emboldened  him.  To-day  he  is  compelled  to  act 
a  little  more  cautiously  owing  to  the  developments  of  the  chemis- 
try of  terpenes  and  their  derivatives,  as  well  as  a  more  or  less 
complete  knowledge  of  the  composition  of  a  number  of  the  volatile 
oils.    The  "  Black  Art  "  of  volatile  oils  is  passing  away. 
The  writers  are  fully  convinced  that  the  large  distillers  and 
reputable  wholesalers  are  not  responsible  for  some  of  the  adulter- 
ated oils  met  with,  even  though  they  pass  through  their  hands. 
(i) 
