86 REPOET OF THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



probable that eucalyptus oil may be safely employed, and with advan- 

 tage, in cases of humid gangrene, as it certainly will preserve animal 

 matter from decay and deodorize that which is putrescent. 



The preceding experiments demonstrate that eucalyptus oil, turpen- 

 tine, and, indeed, nearly all the essential oils, possess an oxidizing prop- 

 erty. To speak in figurative language, they have the power to burn up 

 or decompose some products deleterious to health, which are always 

 present in malarial regions, and are well known as products of nnimal 

 and vegetable decay. 



Composition of eucalyptol, C'^H-fO, (Colez. Auu, Ch. Pharm., cliv, n72.)— The 

 fiauatariau Monthly Journal says : This compound is contained in largo quanti ry iu the 

 volatile oil of Eucah/ptus gJohnlus, a tree indigenous in Tasmania and much cultivated 

 iu the southwest of Europe. The crude oil contains also a number of products with 

 boiling points between 188^ and 190'^, and above 200° ; the eucalyptol is contained in 

 the portion which jiasses over between 170° and 178°, from which it may bo obtained 

 pure by contact, first, with solid potassium hydrate, then with calcium chloride, and 

 subsequent distillation. 



Eucalyptol boils at 175°, has a specific gravity of 0.905 at 8°, and turns the plane of 

 polarization to the right. Its molecular rotary power is -|-10.42° for a length of 100 

 millimeters. It is slightly soluble in water, and dissolves completely in alcohol ; the 

 dilute solution has an odor of rosea. Vapor density, obs.=5.92; calc.=i6.22. 



Ordinary nitric acid attacks eucalyptol, forming, among other products, an acid 

 probably analogous to camphoric acid. Strong sulphuric acid blackens eucalyptol, and 

 water separates from the product a tarry body, which yields by distillation a volatile 

 hydrocarbon. 



Eucalyptol heated with phosphoric anhydride parts with water, and yields oucalyp- 

 tene, C'^H'*, (vapor-density = 5.3,) which boils at 165°, and has a specific gravity of 

 0.836 at 12°. At the same time there is formed another liquid, eucalyptolene, which 

 has the same composition, but boUs above 300°. Eucalyptol absorbs a large quantity 

 of dry hydrogen chloride, the liquid first solidifying to a crystalline mass, which, how- 

 ever, .afterward liquefies, with separation of water and formation of a body appar- 

 ently identical with eucalyptene. 



Just outside the walls of Rome may be seen the Abbey of the Three Fount-ains, long 

 since abandoned on account of the unhealthfuluess of the locality. In 1868 some 

 French Trappists obtained possession of this place, with the intention of reclaiming 

 the laud and rendering the locality tenable. But they sufi'ered severely from the effects 

 of malaria, and in summer were obliged to go every night into the city to sleep. 

 Father Gallos, having learned the qualities of the Eucalijptus globulus, detei'mined to 

 test its value in this place. His success has been complete, and the ecclesiastics, as 

 well as the cultivators of the soil, are now enabled to reside permanently on tlie prem- 

 ises, without any apprehension for their safety. Fat her Gallos has been complimented 

 for his success by tho Agricultural Bureau of Rome, and many of the njembors of the 

 agricultural committee nave visited his plantation to obtain plants and seeds, and tes- 

 tify their appreciation of tho benefits he has conferred on the health of tho people as 

 well as on agriculture. 



