PHILIPPINE TERPENES AND ESSENTIAL OILS, III. 115 



safrol and large percentages of cinnamic aldehj'de. I have also examined 

 two samples of bark of Cinnamomwm sp. from the Davao region of 

 Mindanao. Xo sufficient botanical material was sent with these barks 

 to permit the identification of the species, but from the taste and odor 

 of the bark and from the oil obtained by distillation (yield 1.1 per 

 cent) there is little doubt but that they represent the true cinnamon 

 of commerce. Older accounts from Philippine travelers speak of Cin- 

 namomum zeylanicum I^ees as occurring in Mindanao, and American 

 planters state that the true cinnamon occurs in some quantity in the 

 region back of Davao, and that a small amount of trading in it is carried 

 on among the natives. We have not yet been able to obtain any quantitj' 

 of this bark or any botanical material for its identification, but expect 

 to be able to do so .soon. 



PETKOLEUM NUTS. 



The fruits of Pittosporum resinifevrum Hemsl. are known in the 

 Philippines as petroleum nuts, because of a fancied resemblance in the 

 odor of the oil to that of petroleum, and because even the green, fresh 

 fruits will burn brilliantly when a match is applied to them. The tree 

 is essentially an inhabitant of the high mountain ridges, being usually 

 found at an elevation of 500 meters or more. However, one tree was 

 found in Mindoro at an altitude of 170 meters, although it was found in 

 the same region again at 3,500 meters (Mount Halcon). The tree is not 

 very abundant in any part of the Islands, but it is yidely distributed, 

 botanical material having been collected from Tayabas, Zambales, Pam- 

 panga, Cagayan, Mindoro, Benguet, and Bataan. There is no Tagalog 

 name for the plant as the natives generally do not know the high moun- 

 tain flora. The oil from the petroleum nut proved to be very interesting 

 as it contained considerable quantities of nonnal heptane, which has 

 only once before been found in nature, occurring in the digger pine of 

 California, Pinus sabiniana Dough, "' and also a dihydroterpene, CjoHjj. 



In working up the various lots of Pittosporum fruits, considerable dif- 

 ferences were noted in the proportions of heptane and dihydroterpene 

 found in the oil, and the season and degree of ripeness of the fruits 

 undoubtedly play a considerable role in this respect. 



The first lot of nuts was obtained from Baguio, Benguet, in the autumn of 

 1907. One kilo of whole, fresh nuts gave 52 grams of oil on a press. The residue 

 ground up and again pressed yielded an additional 16 grams of oil; specific 



QAO 



gravity=0.883 ; N =1.4577. It was not possible to determine the optical rota- 

 tion. The oil is quite sticky, and in a thin layer rapidly becomes resinous. In an 

 open dish it burns strongly, with a sooty flame. It distills unchanged up to 

 165°, then with decomposition to give a resin oil. The oil distilling from 100° to 



^Ann. d. Chem., (Liebig), (1879), 198, 364. 



