Two very remarkable physical characteristics demand our attention when we examine this root: first, its perfume, resembling the purest musk; then the powerful aroma which it exhales when under mastication. This odor of musk is so marked, that some had thought it owed this quality to its contact with musk, in the transportation of drugs from Asia to Europe; but such an idea is negatived by the fact that sumbul retains this odor, even when very old; that even when the external parts have lost it, it continues in the interior; that this odoriferous principle may be extracted from it by chemical manipulation; and again, that it has received from botanists the name of moschus-wurzel or musk-root. Its aromatic taste is also a distinguishing characteristic. The first impression on the palate is slightly sweet, this is rapidly replaced by a balsamic flavor, and then by a bitter, but not unpleasant taste.—As mastication proceeds, the mouth and throat experience a strong aromatic and pungent taste, and the breath becomes impregnated with the penetrating odor of the { 84} substance.—This flavor is still more decided in the alcoholic tincture than in the root.
The chemical analysis of sumbul has occupied several German chemists, Reinsch, Schnitzlein, Frichinger, and Kalthover. According to Reinsch, the root of sumbul contains, besides water, traces of an ethereal oil, two balsamic compounds, (resins) one soluble in ether, the other in alcohol, wax, aromatic spirit, and a bitter substance, soluble in water or alcohol. The solution of this bitter substance, treated with lime, and chloride of sodium, gives a sediment composed of gum, starch and saline materials. The perfume appears to be contained in the balsams, and its intensity is increased by being diluted with water. Finally, sumbul contains an acid, which Reinsch proposes calling _sumbulic acid_.
Kalthover directed his attention further to its pharmaceutical uses, and obtained an alcoholic tincture of a yellowish color, musky odor, and bitter taste; an ethereal tincture, yellowish, musky, and of a sharp taste; and a substance resembling wax, precipitated after repeated decoctions in water.
It appears then, that we may obtain from sumbul for medical purposes, two tinctures, one alcoholic, the other ethereal, which seem to differ in their principles, and which may be given in drops alone, or combined with other medicines; and a bitter extract, soluble in water, which may be administered in pills. The powdered root may also be given crude, or in pills.—_(Union Médicale) in Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie._