36 



Gum veins are olien present. It is considered a good, durable timber, and 

 superior to that of E. corymbosa, Sm. It has quite a metallic ring when the 

 fractured edges of two pieces are rubbed together. 



REMARKS.- A tree closely allied to both E. corymbosa, Sm., and E. cMmia. Seha.ii. It has, however, 

 always been considered as the northern form of the former species, but in botanical characters it more nearly 

 resembles the latter, and especially E. maculata, Hook. The chemical constituents and optical features place it 

 midway between the two former. It differs from E. corymbosa in the nature of the timber, bark, oil, and fruits, 

 which have not the marked recurved rim of that species. From E. eximia it diMers in pedicellate fruits, a stringy, flaky 

 bark, and its pinkish timber. Dr. Woolls was cognisant of the differences existing between these species, for in 

 his " Flora of Australia " (p. 238) he states : " At the Clarence and Richmond Rivers the ' Bloodwood ' prevails 

 to a great extent, and the workmen reckon two kinds one with smooth, and the other with rough bark. It seems 

 probable that the Mountain ' Bloodwood ' (E. eximia), which overhangs the valley of the Grose, is different from 

 the ' Bloodwood ' of the north." Most botanists have regarded the northern " Bloodwood " as identical with the 

 Sydney and southern " Bloodwood," but Dr. Woolls is the only one who connected it (the northern one) with E. 

 eximia, Schau., and our recent observations also show it to have affinities with that species. Its physical characters 

 however, are so evenly balanced between the two (E. eximia and E. corymbosa) that it was decided to give it specific 

 rank. 



ESSENTIAL OIL. Leaves and terminal branchlets for distillation were 

 obtained from Lismore, N.S.W., in October, 1900. The yield of oil was 

 0-13 per cent. The crude oil was amber coloured, and had a slight aromatic 

 odour. It consisted largely of pinene; phellandrene was not present, and but 

 a trace of cineol could be detected. 



The crude oil had a specific gravity at 15 C. ; = 0-8829 > optical rotation 

 a D + 9-9 ; refractive index at 20 1-4821, and was insoluble in 10 volumes 

 80 per cent, alcohol. The rotation of the higher boiling portion of the oil being 

 to the left, indicated the presence of aromadendral, particularly as an aldehyde- 

 was shown to occur in this fraction. The saponifi cation number for the esters 

 and free acid was 2-5. 



On rectification a few drops of acid water and volatile aldehydes came 

 over below 157 C. (corr.). Between 157-172, 58 per cent, distilled; between 

 172-245, 16 per cent, came over; and between 245-266, 16 per cent, distilled. 

 These fractions gave the following : 



First fraction, sp. gr. at 15 C. = 0-8606; rotation a D + 13-9. 

 Second ,, = 0-8647; + 2 ' 8 - 



Third ,, ,, ,, = 0-9302; 1-3. 



The oil of this species thus differs from that of the " Bloodwood " of the 

 Sydney District, in that the oil of the latter tree is laevo-rotatory. For com- 

 parative results between the oils of the three " Bloodwoods " see table under 

 E. (ftrymbosa. 



Material from this species was also obtained from Tumbulgum, N.S.W., 

 in November, 1897. The oil was practically identical with the above. The 

 specific gravity at 15 C. = 0-8881 ; and the optical rotation a D + 12-2. The 

 saponification number for the ester was 3-8. The lower boiling terpenes 

 consisted almost entirely of pinene. 





