PHILIPPINE TBIRPENES AND ESSENTIAL OILS, III. Ill 



BBOMINE ADDITION PRODUCT OF PHELLANDRENE. 



One hundred and six grams of bromine were slowly added to 80 grams of a. 

 phellandrene dissolved in 100 grams glacial acetic acid. The bromination pro- 

 ceeded quite smoothly, without any evolution of hydrobromic acid. When treated 

 in this manner one molecule of a phellandrene adds only two atoms of bromine. 

 This dibromophellandrene reacts very satisfactorily according to the method of 

 Grignard, and by decomposing the reaction products with water, 25 grams of a 

 dihydroterpene C,oH,8 were obtained boiling between 170° and 172° ; specific 



.gravity,z^=0.8231 ; N':"~= 1.4590; and 13 grams of terpene polymerization prod- 

 ucts still containing a small amount of bromine. 



LEMON GRASS OIL. 



Andropogon citratus DC. is not cultivated on a large scale in the 

 Philippines, although it is found growing as a garden herb and also in 

 the wild state in all parts of the Islands, being quite abundant in the 

 highlands of the Province of Benguet. ISTo commercial distillation of 

 the oil is carried on at the present time. The first mention of lemon 

 ^rass from the Philippines dates from 1635, -when Juan Eusebeus Nurem- 

 berg, a Spanish Jesuit, describes it quite unmistakably under the name 

 of "tanglat." This is still the Tagalog name for the plant. The correct 

 ■spelling is "tanglad." Another name is salai, and in the Visayas this 

 .grass is termed ialyoco, while the Spanish name is Paja de Meca. Many 

 Filipinos have small patches of the grass. It is cooked with stale fish 

 to improve the taste and is used as a flavor in wines and various sauces 

 and spices; it is also used medicinally, being applied to the forehead 

 .and face as a cure for headache, and an infusion is held in the mouth 

 to alleviate the suffering of toothache. It is also used for baths and 

 fomentations, particularly in female complaints. The writings of the 

 •older botanists show that these uses date back to the first mention of 

 the plant from the Malay regions. A perusal of the extensive literature 

 on lemon grass oil leaves considerable doubt as to whether the cultiva- 

 tion of the grass for oil distillation in the Philippines should be recom- 

 mended. The market for lemon grass oil must always remain quite 

 limited, and it has been stated that the oil from one of the species of 

 Australian eucalyptus, Backhousia citriodora F. Muell. would soon drive 

 •out that from lemon grass as a source of citral. The oil from this Austra- 

 lian plant has a citral content which is from 10 to 20 per cent higher than 

 that from lemon grass, still it seems probable, in view of the great 

 ■differences in the price of labor in Australia and in tropical countries, 

 that lemon grass will be able to hold its own as the source of the world's 

 ■supply of citral. The price of lemon grass oil has been very low during 

 the past two years and the further cultivation of it has been strongly dis- 

 couraged by European essential-oil houses. Still the plant has some 



