66 ODOROGEAPHIA. 



man in 1880*; his results somewhat differ from those of Heaney, 

 quoted above. From between 60 and 701bs. of the fresh leaves he 

 obtained 820 grams of essential oil of a clear yellowish straw-colour, 

 and having the peculiar aroma of the leaves ; the sp. gr. at 11^ C. 

 being 0-940. " It does not thicken on long standing. It separates 

 on fractional distillation into two portions, one boiling between 

 170^ and 190° C, the other between 210° and 225° C. ; smaller 

 quantities passing over as high as 260°. The lesser fraction is 

 mainly composed of a terpin-hydrate agreeing with the terpinol of 

 Wigers, in wiiich one molecule of water is combined with two of 

 C\oIIig. It boils at 167° to 168° C, is clear, colourless and 

 mobile, and is not readily effected by metallic sodium, even when 

 heated with it. A fraction boiling between 171° and 172^ is 

 evidently a mixture of the above with the more oxygenated, 

 higher-boiling constituent Cg H^g 0, of which the higher fraction 

 (210° to 225° C.) appears to be mainly composed." Stillman gives 

 the name Unibellol to the fraction " boiling without decomposition 

 at 215° to 216° (uncorrected), it being a colourless mobile liquid 

 of aromatic and powerful odour, but not volatile at ordinary 

 temperatures." 



IVlyrtle. 



The most generally known myrtle, Myrtiis communis Lin. (Spec, 

 p. 673), is by some considered to be a native of the South of 

 Europe, on exposed rocks. It is extremely abundant in Italy, 

 Southern France and Spain. By others it is not considered to be 

 indigenous to Europe, but only naturalised, having originally 

 been brought from Western Asia, where, at the present day it is 

 found in a wild state as far east as Afghanistan. 



It grows in the form of a large bushy shrub, from 3 to 10 feet 

 in height. It is admired for the fragrance and elegance of its 

 shininor evergreen leaves and for its sweet-scented flowers, and 

 was a great favorite with the ancient Greeks, who called it 

 fivpTo<;, a word derived from fjuvpov, perfume. In England it is 

 not sufficiently hardy to withstand the frost of severe winters, 

 although in the extreme southern parts it frequently survives 

 long enouo;h to attain its full growth. The leaves are ovate 

 or lanceolate, acute, opposite, entire, and marked with transparent 

 dots. The flowers are white, single, on solitary pedicels, about 



* Am. Journ. Pharm., 18S0, pp. 315-318 ; and Am. Cliem. Journ., April, 1880. 



