group of Eucalypts. Peduncles axillary, about 5 lines long, terete or slightly 

 flattened, with five to seven flowers in the umbel. Calyx hemispherical ; oper- 

 culum hemispherical, shortly acuminate, 3 lines in diameter. 



Fruit. Might be described as hemispherical or 

 pilular, but contracted at the rim, which is 

 either countersunk or flat ; 3 to 4 lines in 

 diameter. 



These are very close in form to E. stricta. 

 Habitat. Berrima, Mittagong, New South Wales. 



REMARKS. -This tree, both in the field and herbarium material, has so much the facies of E. stricta, Sieb., 

 that it was considered by us at first, and without any hesitation, as identical with that species. The differences, 

 however, in the constituents of their respective oils differences. such as could not be due to soil or climate 

 caused us to make a further search for morphological characters, such as the oil constituents seemed to indicate. 

 The presence of the peppermint constituent in this species also led us to look for a venation similar to that of 

 E. dives, Schau., and others containing this particular property, and such was found when the cuticle of the leaf 

 \v;is removed. By a similar treatment, the leaf of E. stricta was found to have a venation corresponding to 

 /;. Bridgssiana, R.T.B., and others of the richer cineol-yielding Eucalypts. It is, therefore, upon the presence 

 of these, characters and oil constituents that the two species, E. stricta, Sieb., and E. apiculata, are separated. 



ESSENTIAL OIL. Leaves and terminal branchlets for distillation were 

 obtained from Berrima, N.S.W., in May, 1899. The yield of oil was 0-7 per cent. 

 The crude oil was of a light orange-brown colour, and had a strong peppermint-like 

 odour. Only a small amount of cineol could be detected. Pinene was present, 

 but phellandrene was absent. The peppermint constituent was present in some 

 quantity, and 18 per cent, came over between 228-240 C. 



The crude oil had specific gravity at 15 C. = 0-9112 ; rotation a D 7-8 ; 

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

 The saponification number for the esters and free acid was 8-7. 



On rectification, 2 per cent, distilled below 170 C. (corr.). Between 

 170-185, 38 per cent, distilled; between 185-228, 37 per cent, came over, and 

 between 228-240, 18 per cent, distilled. These fractions gave the following 

 results : 



First fraction, sp. gr. at 15 C. = 0-8861 ; rotation D + 4-3. 



Second ,, ,, = 0-9045; ,, + 1-5. 



Third ,, ,, = 0-9420; ,, + 4-4. 



It will be noticed that the three fractions were all dextro-rotatory, but that 

 the crude oil was laevo-rotatory. The reason for this peculiarity was the altera- 

 tion which takes place in the optical activity of the piperitone when submitted 

 to direct distillation. 



Material of this species for distillation was also obtained from Berrima, 

 N.S.W., in September, 1899, in order to test the constancy of constituents. The 

 oil was found to be practically identical with that of the previous consignment, 

 the constituents were similar, and present in about the same amounts. The 

 specific gravity of the crude oil was 0-9056, and the optical rotation a D - - 8-4. 

 The crude oil formed a clear solution with i volume 80 per cent, alcohol. 



Material of this species was also obtained for distillation from Mittagong, 

 N.S.W., in July, 1901. The oil was in agreement with those of the material from 

 Berrima. A portion of this oil was acetylated in order to determine if alcohols 



