COMPOSITE 285
formula C 10 H 20 O 2 , melting at 132°. Bertram and Gildemeisterl have
examined the Japanese or " kesso" oil and found in it the terpenes
pinene, camphene, and dipentene, terpineol, borneol, bornyl acetate, and
bornyl iso-valerianate, a sesquiterpene, a blue oil not identified, and
kessyl acetate C 1 4H 23 O. CO 2 CH 3. This body is the acetic ester of
kessyl alcohol C 14 H 24 O 2. It is a liquid boiling at 300°. Kessyl alcohol
forms rhombic crystals melting at 85°.
Valerian oil is employed to a considerable extent on the continent as
a popular remedy for cholera, in the form of cholera drops, and also to
a certain extent in soap perfumery.
An oil is also obtained from Valeriana Celtica, a native of the Swiss
Alps and the Tyrol. Between 1 and 2 per cent, of oil is obtained
having an odour recalling that of a mixture of patchouli and chamo-
miles. Its specific gravity is from 0-960 to 0970.
Messrs. Schimmel & Co.^2 have distilled a parcel of Mexican root
which was probably Valeriana Mexicana, known locally as cuittapatti.
The oil had a disagreeable odour of valerianic acid; its specific gravity
was '949, and it was optically inactive. It appears to consist almcs
entirely of hydrated valerianic acid.
OIL OF SPIKENARD.This oil, which is the true spikenard or Indian spikenard, has been
described as being obtained from various plants, but there now appears
to be no doubt that it is obtained from Nardostachys Jatamansi, a plant
flourishing in the Alpine Himalayas and district. Kemp^3 distilled
56 Ib. of the root and obtained 3 oz. of oil, whilst another parcel of
100 Ib. yielded 15 oz. It is a pale yellow oil of specific gravity -975,
and optical rotation about - 20°.
Asahina^4 has examined a Japanese distilled oil, which he found had
the following characters :—
Specific gravity
Optical rotation
Refractive index
Acid value.
Ester
(after acetylation)yO9536- 11° 30'
1-5710 at 8°
0
45-7
66-42
He isolated from the oil a sesquiterpene of specific gravity 0*932,
boiling at 250° to 254°.
Although its odour may be considered disagreeable by many, it is
highly esteemed in the East as a perfume. Its use is practically re-
placed in Western countries by that of oil ot valerian.
COMPOSITE.CHAMOMILE OIL.
There are two varieties of this oil, the Eoman chamomile oil, dis-
tilled from the flowers of Anthemis nobilis, a plant indigenous to the
southern and western parts of Europe, and cultivated in Germany,
Great Britain, France, and Belgium; and the German chamomile oil
distilled from the flowers of Matricaria chamomilla.
1
Arch. d. Pharm., 228 (1890), 483.
2
Bericht, April, 1897, 47.
3
Pharmacographia Indica, ii. 237.
4
Jour. Pharm. Japan (1907), 355.