3" 



The history of this species at the hands of systrmatists is interesting : It was described as a species by 

 Sielier, DC., Prod, iii, 217. Bentham in his "Flora Australiensis," vol. iii, 202, gives it specific rank. Mueller, 

 in " Eucalyptographia," Dec. 2, 1880, places it under / Si '" I/UIHI. and later, Dec. 10, 1884, synonymises it under 

 E. stricta; later in his second Census, 1889, he restores the name. Deane and Maiden, in Proc. Linn. Soc., N.S.W., 

 1897, P- 7 1 /. discuss its affinities at great length, and state that it oscillates between E. Luehmanniana and 



E. obtusiflora, and finally that "all that remains is to give the name of li. vir^atn decent interment " 



Maiden, in his "Critical Revision of the denns F.ucalyplus." Vol. i, p. 271, 1907, states that E. virgata and 

 E. stricta are conspecific. Later in the same work, Vol. 4, p. 284. 1919, Maiden raises the tree to specific rank and 

 places it above /:. I.iifhmanniana, F.v.M., statin;,', however, that it (E. virgata) is confined to New South Wales. 



ESSENTIAL OIL. Material for distillation was obtained from Spring- 

 wood, N.S.W., in September, 1899. The yield of oil was 0-29 per cent. When 

 distilled the oil was found to consist very largely of crystallised eudesmol, that 

 substance being present in such quantity that the oil solidified in the receiver. 

 A fresh consignment of leaves was then received, and this on distillation gave 

 similar results. The material thus obtained was undoubtedly the most remark- 

 able Eucalyptus oil we had seen up to that time. Only traces of cineol were 

 detected, while the low-boiling terpenes consisted principally of phellandrene. 

 The oil of this species has little resemblance to that obtained from E. Sieberiana, 

 as eudesmol does not occur in the oil of the latter species. The peppermint con- 

 stituent, piperitone, is present in small amount in the oil of E. virgata. Fresh 

 material of E. Sieberiana was obtained on purpose to test the constancy, but the 

 oil corresponded with that obtainable at all times from the leaves of E. Sieberiana, 

 and had little resemblance to that derived from this species, owing to the absence 

 of eudesmol. The oil distilled from the first consignment of leaves was analysed 

 with the following results : 



The crude oil had specific gravity at 15 C. := 0-9154; refractive index at 

 20 = 1-4958, and was soluble in i volume 80 per cent, alcohol. The saponifi- 

 cation number for the esters and free acid was 5-7. 



On rectification, i per cent, distilled below 173 C. (corr.). Between 173- 

 188, 54 per cent, distilled ; between 188-272, 10 per cent, came over, and between 

 272-285, 31 per cent, distilled. These fractions gave the following results : 



First fraction, sp. gr. at 15 C. := 0-8683; rotation a D 31-08. 



Second ,, ,, =0-8796; -17-40. 



Several years later, in June, 1912, material for distillation was obtained 

 from St. Mary's, Tasmania. The yield of oil was 0-79 per cent., which is greater 

 than that from the N.S.W. trees. The oil consisted largely of phellandrene and 

 eudesmol, the terpene in the greater proportion, and the eudesmol in correspond- 

 ingly less amount than was present in the Australian oil, otherwise the agreement 

 was very close ; this can be seen from the following results. The crude oil was 

 but little coloured, and had a secondary odour of peppermint, due to the presence 

 of a small quantity of piperitone. Cineol was readily detected in small amount. 



The principal constituent in this oil was phellandrene, and pinene probably 

 absent. Eudesmol was present in quantity, the high-boiling fraction becoming 

 solid after a few hours. Only a very small amount of ester was present in the 

 crude oil. Although the phellandrene shows the Icevo-rotatory modification in 

 excess, yet, judging from the comparatively small rotation, and the almost entire 

 absence of' pinene, it seems possible that the phellandrene of opposite rotation 

 was also present. So far dextro-rotatory phellandrene has not been isolated 

 from any Eucalyptus oil. 



The crude oil had specific gravity at 15 C. = O.-8883 ; rotation a D -- 20-9; 

 refractive index at 20 = 1-4810, and was soluble in 3 volumes 80 per cent, alcohol. 

 This comparatively ready solubility is largely due to the presence of eudesmol. 

 The saponification number for the esters and free acid was 3-3. 



