on AMINES, 561 



a long black awn occupies tlie place of tlic other, which has 

 two small filaments at its base; nectary two minute leaflets 

 embracing the germ laterally ; stamens, pistil, and seed as in 



the 



genus. 



Male calyx as in the hermaphrodite; corol one-valved; nectary 

 aud stamens as in the hermaphrodite, no pistil. {Roxburgh.) 



The oil of A. SchcsnantJius distilled by ouc of us was dex- 

 trogyre, the ray being rotated 39° to the right by a column of 

 100 mm., and 78° by one of 200 mm. Some samples of the 

 commercial oil rotated the ray about 1 3° to the right, and 

 others had little or no effect upon it. The colour of the genuine 

 oil was that of pale sherry ; the commercial samples were more 

 highly coloured. The odour at first resembles that of the rose, 

 but there is a persistent and terebinthinate after-flavour which 

 is not agreeable. 



The taste is pungent and agreeable, approaching that of 



ginger. 



Chemical composition.— "Vhe oil of this grass, which has been 

 named Gcraniol (G^^W^O), is an alcohol belonging to the 

 scries C"II'^— '^O. The two samples examined by F. W. 

 Scmmler [Ber. d. D. Chcm. Ges., 23, 1098), which yielded 90 

 per cent, of geraniol, must have been adulterated, as they turned 

 « ray of polarised light 2^^ to the left, whereas the genuhic 

 oil distilled by one of us was strongly dextrogyre. Gcrauiol, 

 which occurs also in Felargonium Eadula, Aiton, has a fragrant 

 odour of roses, and is miscible with alcohol and ether; the 

 filing point at 17 mm. pressure is 120°-5-122°-5, and tlio 

 refraction 487 1. With calcium chloride at 50° it forms a 

 crystalline compound (C'^H'^O) Ca CF, decomposed by water 

 and slowly oxidised by air. Potash-fusion forms isovaleric 

 acid. Neutral aqueous K^M„0^ forms acetic and isovaleric 

 acids. Even boiling baryta-water slowly forms isovaleric acid. 

 Chromic acid mixture forms citral {Scmmln-). HNQ-^ fonns 

 'nitrobenzene, HCy, oxalic acid, and a resin, but no camphoric 



ficid. 



Wait 



III.-.71 



^ 



