266 



ESSENTIAL OIL. Leaves and terminal branchlets for distillation were 

 obtained from Monga, N.S.W., in August, 1898. The yield of oil was o-68 per 

 cent. The crude oil was reddish-brown in colour, and had a rank terpene-like 

 odour, i.u Erom pleasant. The principal constituent in the oil was phellandrene, 

 and pinene appeared to be almost absent. Cineol was only present in small 

 amount. A characteristic constituent occurring in the oil of this Eucalypt is the 

 aldehyde aromadendral, and it thus differs Erom most other phellandrene-bearing 

 oils, obtained from such species as E. dives, E. Sieberiana, &c, in that the 

 peppermint constituent piperitone replaces in these the aromadendral as a 

 distmguishing constituent. The rectified oil had a yellowish tint, due to the 

 influence of the predominating phenol. 



The crude oil had specific gravity at 15 C. = 0-8902 ; rotation not taken ; 

 refractive index at 20° = 1-4877 ; and was soluble in 1 volume 80 per cent, alcohol. 

 The saponification number for the esters and free acid was 8-03. 



On rectification, only 1 per cent, came over below 175° C. (corr.). Between 

 175-183°, 58 per cent, distilled ; between 183-214°, 22 per cent, came over, and 

 between 2 14-245°, 12 per cent, distilled. The * d fraction contained aroma- 

 dendral. The fractions gave the following results :— 



First fraction, sp. gr. at 15° C. = 0-8707 



Second ,, ,, ,, = o-88io 



Third „ „ „ = 0-9286 



Later, in July, 1908, material of this species for distillation was collected 

 at Mt. Wellington, Tasmania, at an altitude of about 2,000 feet ; and also at about 

 the same time of the year at Williamsford, on the west coast of Tasmania. Both 

 the crude oils were of a reddish-brown colour, due to the action of the iron from the 

 still acting on the phenols, and both contained similar constituents in practically 

 the same amounts, thus being in comparative agreement. The results also agreed 

 with those obtained with the oil of this species from Monga, New South Wales, 

 recorded above. The chief constituent in the oil of this species was phellandrene, 

 and the high-boiling aromatic aldehyde (aromadendral) occurred in some quantity. 

 Cineol was present only in small amount, and both eudesmol and piperitone 

 appeared to be absent. The following tabulated results for the crude oils from 

 the two Tasmanian localities show how closely they agree. 



Mt. Wellington 



Williamsford 



These results, together with the botanical characters, indicate that the 

 Tasmanian trees of this species are identical with those growing in Australia. 



