OF AUTS AND SCIENCES. 93 



IX. 



CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE CHEMICAL LABORATORY OF 



HARVARD COLLEGE. 



A NEW METHOD OF PREPARING BORNEOL FROM 



CAMPHOR. 



By C. Loring Jacksox and A. E. Menke. 



Presented June 13th, 1883. 



The natural borneol (Borneo camphor), obtained from the Dryobala- 

 nops Camphora, is brought from the East so rarely that specimens of 

 it can be obtained in this country or in Europe only with the great- 

 est difficulty ; most chemists, who have studied this substance, have 

 confined their attention therefore to the borneol obtained from ordi- 

 nary camphor, which has been proved to be identical* with the natu- 

 ral product. 



So far as we can find, there are but two methods of making borneol 

 from camphor, — one by the action of potassic hydrate, which is due 

 to Berthelotjt the other that of Baubigny,| consisting in treating 

 camphor witli sodium, and separating the sodium camphor from the 

 sodium borneol by carbonic dioxide. Both leave much to be desired, 

 since the product of the first is a mixture of camphor and borneol, 

 which must be purified by treatment with stearic acid, and according 

 to Kachler § the yield is very small, while the second yields pure 

 borneol, it is true, but theoretically only one half of the camphor can 

 be converted into borneol, although an amount of sodium is required 

 which corresponds to the whole weight of camphor used. 



In the course of some experiments on camphor, which led to no 

 result so far as their main object was concerned, it was necessary for 



* Kacliler. Wien Acad. Ber. (2 Abth.), 78, July. 



t Ann. Chim. Phys., ser. 3, Ivi. p. 78. 



X Ibid., ser. 4, xix. p. 22L 



§ Ann. Chem. Pharin., clxiv. p. 75. 



