CAJEPUT OIL, a volatile oil obtained by distillation from the leaves of Melaleuca leucadodendron, and probably other species. The trees yielding the oil are found throughout the Indian Archipelago, the Malay peninsula, and over the hotter parts of the Australian continent; but the greater portion of the oil is procured from Celebes Island. The name Cajeput is derived from the native Kαyu,∙puti or white wood. The oil is prepared from leaves collected in a hot dry day, which are macerated in water, and distilled after fermenting for a night. As imported into Europe it has a greenish colour owing to the presence of a minute proportion of copper, which can be separated, leaving the oil perfectly colourless. This oil is extremely pungent to the taste, and has the odour of a mixture of turpentine and camphor. When dropped in water, it diffuses itself over the surface, and then entirely evaporates. Chemically, the oil consists in large part of the bihydrate of cajputene, from which cajputene having a hyacinthine odour can be obtained by distillation from anhydrous phosphoric acid. Like other volatile oils, the cajeput is a powerful stimulant, and is used medicinally where such medicines are required. Some practitioners have given it a high character as a remedy for cholera; but it does not appear to have any claim as a specific in the treatment of that disease. The dose taken internally as a stimulant, antispasmodic, and diaphoretic, is about five drops. It is used externally as a rubefacient, and is also resorted to occasionally with advantage in toothache. The oil from some species of Eucalyptus bears a close resemblance in odour and properties to cajeput.