204 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. — 1916. 



The cineol was determined by the resorcinol method, in all cases in 

 the redistilled portion of the freshlj^ obtained oil boiling below 190°. 

 The alcohol for solubilities was 70 per cent, by weight. 



(c) ' Eucalyptus Australiana ' {sp. nov.) and its Peculiarities. 



This species is plentifully distributed in New South Wales and 

 Victoria. It is known vernacularly as ' Black peppermint, ' ' Narrow- 

 leaf peppermint ' and also as ' Messmate.' Although morphologically 

 this tree shows great resemblance to Eucalyptus amygdalina of 

 Tasmania, yet the two trees are not identical. The yield of oil given 

 by the Australian trees is remarkably high, sometimes reaching as 

 high as 4i per cent., from leaves with terminal branchlets. This oil 

 has abnomial characters, due largely to the presence of an alcohol, 

 of high boiling point, at present undetermined ; the amount of 

 this alcohol appears to be fairly constant. Phellandrene, which is 

 present to a pronounced extent in the oil from higher altitudes, 

 diminishes considerably in amount when the species grows naturally at 

 a lower level, the cineol increasing correspondingly in amount. It 

 was discovered several years ago that the cineol content of the oil 

 from this species could be raised if the oil were fractionally separated 

 when the leaves were being distilled. This fact has now commercial 

 value and much of the water-white Eucalyptus oil containing about 

 70 per cent, cineol, which has recently reached the London market, 

 has been prepared from this species in this way, the oil coming over 

 daring the first hour being sold as a pharmaceutical oil, that which 

 distils later being used for other commercial purposes. It has been 

 found that this ' first-hour oil ' is remarkably constant in general 

 characters; numerous analyses, made in Sydney, show that if separated 

 at the first hour the figures have the following range : — 



Eelative density at 15° C. = 0-9179 to 0-9211. 

 Rotation "d = 1-30 to -M-7°. 



Solubility in 70 per cent, alcohol 1-05 to 1-15 volumes. 

 Refractive index at 20° C. =1-4614 to 1-4636. 



Analyses of the second-hour oil gave 11-4 as saponification number 

 for the ester and 95*1 for the acetylated oil. In the case of the third- 

 hour oil the figures were 9-4 and 124-5 respectively. 



It is very probable that this species of Eucalyptus will eventually 

 become of even greater economic importance as an oil-producing plant 

 than it is at the present time. (For further information see ' Journal 

 of the Royal Society of New South Wales,' December 1915.) 



Besides this species a few others have been described recently and 

 named by Mr. Maiden, but the products these gave have not yet been 

 chemically examined. 



