OLEUM NEROLI. . 127 



solution of quinine. In oil of Neroli the phenomenon may be shown 

 most distinctly by pouring a little spirit of wine on to the surface of 

 the essential oil, and causing the liquid to gently undulate. The oil is 

 but turbidly miscible with bisulphide of carbon. It assumes a very 

 pure, intense, and permanent crimson hue if shaken with a saturated 

 solution of bisulphide of sodium. Examined in a column of 100 mm. 

 we observed the oil to deviate the ray of polarized light 6° to the 



right. 



sufficient 



Subjected to distillation, the larger part of the oil passes over at 

 185 -195° C. ; we found this portion to be colourless, yet to display in a 

 marked manner the violet fluorescence and also to retain the' odour of 

 the original oil. The portion remaining in the retort was mixed with 

 about the same volume of alcohol (90 per cent.) and some drops of 



to occasion turbidity. A very small 

 amount of the crystalline N'eroli Camphor then made its appearance, 

 floating on the surface of the liquid ; by re-solution in boiling alcohol 

 it was obtained in crystals of rather indistinct form. The re-distilled 

 oil gave no camphor whatever. 



Neroli Camphor was first noticed by Boullay in 1828. According 

 to our observations it ^is a neutral, inodorous, tasteless substance, 

 fusible at 55" C, and forming on cooling a crystalline mass. The 

 crj'stallization should be effected by cooling the hot alcoholic solution, 

 no good crystals being obtainable by slow evaporation or by sublima- 

 tion. The produce was extremely small, about 60 grammes of oil 

 having yielded not more than 01 gramme. Perhaps this scantiness of 

 produce was due to the oil being a year and a half old, for according to 

 f iisson' the camphor diminishes the longer the oil is kept.' We were 

 unable to obtain any similar substance from the oils of bergamot, petit 

 gram, or orange peel. 



Orange Flower Water is a considerable article of manufacture 

 among the distillers of essential oils in the south of Europe, and is 

 "nported thence for use in pharmacy. According to Boullay' it is 

 sm "^iT^*^^^ acid to litmus when first made,— is better if distilled in 

 rvt ^^^ "^ ^^^S^ quantities, and if made from the petals i^er se, 

 ather than from the entire flowers. He also states that only 2 lb. of 

 ^ater should be drawn from 1 lb. of flowers, or 3 lb. if petals alone are 



ln\ } "^ ^^^® ^^^^^- ^^ ^^* "^^'^^^ i" commerce, orange flower water is 

 wurless or of a faintly greenish yellow tinge, almost perfectly trans- 

 Jl^ient, with a delicious odour and a bitter taste. Acidulated with 

 nc acid, it acquires a pinkish hue more or less intense, which dis- 

 appears on saturation by an alkali. 



Or^^^J—Oil of Neroli is consumed almost exclusively in perfumery, 

 ofln °! °^^^^ ^^'^ter is frequently used in medicine to give a pleasant 

 ^^our to mixtures and lotions. 



shot^f ^^^^^^°"— "T^*^ ^'^^g® variation in value of oil of Neroli as 



bein<f P^ice-currents" indicates a great diversity of quality. Besides 



- very commonly mixed, as already stated, with the distilled oil of 



J Yet'""" ''^'^ ^^'^^''^i- XV. (1829) 152. * Thus in the price-list of a firm at Grasse, 



labelled "^f t^*^^^**^^ ^* from an old sample Neroli is quoted as oi /our qualities, the 



iUro." ■^■"■'^"ce de N4roli Portwjal— lowest or " commercial" being less than half 



^Biilhr 7 ^ the price of the finest. 

 '"''''^•^^-P^«m, 1.(1809)337-341. 



Sh 



