Pharmacographia : a history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin, met with in Great Britain and British India / by Friedrich A. Flückiger and Daniel Hanbury.

  • Flückiger, Friedrich A. (Friedrich August), 1828-1894.
Date:
1874
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Pharmacographia : a history of the principal drugs of vegetable origin, met with in Great Britain and British India / by Friedrich A. Flückiger and Daniel Hanbury. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by King’s College London. The original may be consulted at King’s College London.

    687/736 (page 661)
    m-e stated to be Citronella, Lemon Grass, Patchouly, Nutmeg, Mace, Pepper, and Omam (p. 269): and mint is now being cultivated.1 Ginger grass oil is distilled in the collectorate of Khandesh in the Bombay Presidency. That produced in the district of Nimdr in the valley of the Nerbudda, is sometimes called Grass Oil of Nimdr. We have no particulars of the distillation,which however must be carried on extensively. Description—The Indian grass oils are lighter than water, devoid of rotatory power when examined by polarized light, and do not alter litmus paper. They are all extremely fragrant, having an odour like a mixture of lemon and rose. Lemon grass, which in colour is a deep golden brown, has an odour resembling that of the sweet-scented verbena of the gardens, Lippia citriodora H.B.K. Ginger grass oil, the colour of which varies from pale greenish yellow to yellowish-brown, has the odour of Pelargonium Radula Ait. The colour of citronella oil is a light greenish-yellow. The manufacture of Winter of Ceylon, and of Fisher of Singapore, have a reputation for excellence, and are generally indicated by name in drug sale catalogues. Chemical Composition—Stenhouse2 examined in 1844, oil of ginger grass given to him by Christison as Oil of Namur (or Nimdr). The sample was of deep yellow, and apparently old, for when mixed with water and subjected to distillation, it left nearly one-half its bulk of a fluid resin, the oil which passed over being colourless. After rectification from chloride of calcium, it was shown to consist of a hydrocarbon mixed with a small proportion of an oxygenated oil. The latter having been decomposed by sodium, and the oil again rectified, a second analysis was made which proved it isomeric with oil of turpentine. A genuine grass oil from Khandesh, derived as we suppose from the same species, which was examined by one of us (F.), yielded nothing crystalline when saturated with dry hydrochloric acid; but when the liquid was afterwards treated with fuming nitric acid, crystals of the compound, C10H16, HC1, sublimed into the upper part of the vessel. We have observed that the oils both of lemon grass and citronella yield solid compounds, if shaken with a saturated solution of bisulphite of sodium. Citronella oil was found by Gladstone (1872) to be composed chiefly of an oxidized oil, which he called Citronellol, and which he separated by fractional distillation into two portions, the one boiling at 202—205° C., the other at 199-202° C. The sp. gr. of the first at 20° C. was 0-8749,' of the second 0-8741. The composition of each portion is indicated by the formula, C10H16O. Commerce—The growing trade in grass oil is exemplified in a striking manner by the following statistics. The export of Citronella Oil from Ceylon in 1864, was 622,000 ounces, valued at £8230. In the Ceylon Bhie Booh, published at Colombo last year, the exports for 1872 are returned thus :— To the United Kingdom British India .... United States of North America 1,163,074 ounces 5,713 „ 426,470 „ 1,595,257 ounces.3 1 Straits Settlements Blue Booh for 1872 Singapore, 1873. 465. 2 Mem, of Chcm. Soc. ii. (1845) 122. 1 In addition to which, there were “ 248 dozens and 33 packages ” of the same oil slnppcd to the United States.