Part 10

This oil possessing, as has been proved, considerable quantities of such constituents as camphor, cineol, and borneol, all of which are valuable therapeutic agents, may be of economic importance from the standpoint of the perfumer or the medical practitioner. Doubtless if the distillation of the plant were carried on, attention being paid to the stage of growth at which it is distilled and the distillation restricted to the leaves and small twigs, the yield of oil and possibly the yield of the three important constituents mentioned could be considerably augmented.

CONCLUSIONS.

The plants described in the foregoing pages and the volatile oils distilled from them represent but a small part of our wild aromatic flora, yet these plants gathered from their wild haunts have been made to yield products which give promise of no little economic importance. It is the object of this work simply to call attention to the products capable of being obtained from our native plants and to emphasize their possible application in the trades and arts. The actual growth and cultivation of such as prove to be of economic value should follow.

The lands on which the rankest growth of wild plants occurs are usually of little value for the production of agricultural crops, and doubtless large areas of this character exist in all sections of the United States, which lands might be utilized for the growth of certain aromatic plants now largely classed as weeds yet which may be made to yield products of value.

That there is a field for investigation in this direction is shown in the preceding pages in which three plants representing specimens picked up at random have been shown to yield oils containing large quantities of such important compounds as camphor, borneol, and cineol. Inasmuch as camphor is consumed in enormous quantities in the United States, the supply at present coming wholly from foreign countries, the presence of such large quantities of this substance in the volatile oils of black sage and swamp bay should not be overlooked. The cultivation of these plants should not be impracticable. Since black sage if distilled at its flowering stage could be made to yield approximately 1 per cent of oil from the green plant and the oil in turn be made to yield from 40 to 50 per cent of camphor, its growth and cultivation should be profitable. Furthermore, as the plant is a perennial, a crop of foliage could be produced each year, and the luxuriant growth of the plant, coupled with the exceptionally high yield of oil would produce a large amount of oil and camphor per unit of area. After the separation of the camphor from the oil the camphor-free oil remaining would still possess value because of its high content of cineol.

The swamp bay, which yields oil and camphor, though in somewhat smaller quantities, should also receive attention along similar lines.

The wild sage is an example among the wild plants of the United States in which borneol is found in quantity. As a natural source for this compound the plant is far more promising than the two plants native to Borneo and the Malay Archipelago, which yield most of the borneol of commerce, supplying a large proportion to the Chinese, among whom there is a brisk demand. The abundance of wild sage found in this country, the ease with which it might be cultivated, and the large percentage of borneol and cineol capable of separation from the oil make it a most excellent source from which to obtain these substances. The oil also possesses virtues as a scenting agent because of the high percentage of the esters of borneol, which are excellent perfuming materials. As a source for the production of bornyl acetate which is extensively used by perfumers for its pine-needle odor, this oil should prove of value.

Since the oil from each of these plants shows important chemical constituents which may be commercially applied in many ways, their cultivation for these products is worthy of consideration.

FOOTNOTES:

Whittelsey, Th. A New Occurrence of l-Camphor. Otto Wallach Festschrift. Göttingen, 1909, pp. 668-670.

Power, F. B., and Kleber, C. On the Chemical Composition of the Oil of Sassafras Bark and Oil of Sassafras Leaves. Pharmaceutical Review, vol. 14, 1896, pp. 101-104.

Schimmel & Co., Semiannual Report, October, 1895, p. 47.

Kremers, E. Borneo Camphor. Pharmaceutical Review, vol. 23, 1905, pp. 7-14.

The earlier name for this genus is Placus (Loureiro, 1790), the name Blumea being published by De Candolle in 1833.

Schimmel & Co., Semiannual Report, April, 1895, p. 76.

Ibid., 1898, p. 14.

Wallach, O. Untersuchungen aus dem Universitätslaboratorium zu Göttingen, XIV. 4. Ueber das Semicarbazon des d- and l-Fenchons und das Vorkommen von l-Borneolester im Thujaöl. Nachrichten der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen, vol. 1, 1905, p. 11.

Schimmel & Co., Semiannual Report, April, 1897, p. 46.

Spica, M. Studio Chimico dell’ Aristolochia Serpentaria: Nota Preliminare. Gazzetta Chimica Italiana, vol. 17, 1887, pp. 313-316.

Peacock, J. C. Volatile Oil of Aristolochia Reticulata, Nuttall. American Journal of Pharmacy, vol. 63, 1891, pp. 257-264.

Power, F. B., and Lees, F. H. The Constituents of the Essential Oil of Asarum Canadense. Journal of the Chemical Society, London, vol. 81, 1902, pt. 11, pp. 59-73.

Schimmel & Co., Semiannual Report, October, 1895, pp. 46-47.

Ibid., April, 1898, p. 53.

Ibid., October, 1897, p. 12.

Gildemeister, E., and Stephan, K. Beiträge zur Kenntniss der ätherischen Oele, VI. Archiv der Pharmazie, vol. 235, 1897, p. 585.

Bouchardat, G. Sur l’Essence d’Aspic (Lavandula Spica). Comptes Rendus, Academie des Sciences, vol. 117, 1893, pp. 53-56.

Wallach, O. Über die Bestandtheile einiger ätherische Oele. Justus Liebig’s Annalen der Chemie, vol. 225, 1884, pp. 314-318.

Bertrand, G. Sur la Composition Chimique de l’Essence de Niaouli. Comptes Rendus, Société des Sciences, Paris, vol. 116, 1893, pp. 1070-1073.