369. Myrcia.—Bay leaves. Wax myrtle. Wild clove leaves.

369. MYRCIA.—BAY LEAVES. WAX MYRTLE. WILD CLOVE LEAVES. The leaves of Myr'cia ac'ris De Candolle, a West Indian tree. These leaves are aromatic and spicy, containing a volatile oil, which, when distilled, forms the Oleum Myrciae, and when distilled over with rum, forms bay rum.

369a. OLEUM MYRCIAE (1890).—OIL OF BAY. A volatile oil distilled from bay leaves. It is a brownish-yellow, slightly acid liquid, having an agreeable, somewhat clove-like odor, and a warm, spicy taste; sp. gr. 0.96 to 0.98. It consists of a light and a heavy oil—the light a hydrocarbon identical with that of cloves and allspice, the heavy composed chiefly of eugenol.

PREPARATION.

Spiritus Myrciae (U.S.P. 1890) (8 per cent., with the oils of orange-peel and pimenta). Artificial Bay Rum.

A Manual of Organic Materia Medica and Pharmacognosy, 1917, was written by Lucius E. Sayre, B.S. Ph. M.