18 ESSENTIAL OILS FROM THE 



greater extent than those used in the preparation of the oil of the Iron- 

 hark tree, and it is helieved that this circumstance gave rise to the 

 formation of certain resinous matters which passed over the products of 

 distillation, increasing in the form of minute grains, the hulk of the oil. 

 The yield from 100 lbs. of leaves was therefore as follows : — pure 

 limpid oil 9 ounces 3 drachms, oil containing resinous matter in suspen- 

 sion 6 ounces 2 drachms ; of the latter fifty per cent, of its volume may 

 he estimated as consisting of solid matter, upon which assumption the 

 total yield maybe approximatively stated as 12 ounces 4 drachms. 



In odour this sample of oil differs greatly from all the oils of this 

 class, so much so that it could hardly be recognised as of Euca lyptine 

 origin. Its smell in relation to the others is much fainter and milder, 

 and while partaking slightly of the lemon odour of the E. amygdalina, 

 combined with a trace of attar of rose, it wants altogether the charac- 

 teristic pungency and freshness of its congeners. 



The taste of this oil is slightly bitter, producing the usual after-taste 

 of peppermint, and irritating the throat ; but it is not so pungent and 

 diffusible as many others. It is a colourless and limpid fluid, and its 

 specific gravity, which is below the average, is - 881 at 60° F. It is 

 found along the North-eastern boundary line of this colony and extends 

 thence into New South Wales. 



Eucalyptus fabrorum (Stringybark). — What has been said of the 

 facilities offered for obtaining leaves from the Blue Gum is equally 

 applicable to those from the Stringybark ; the cost of such would not 

 be great if the apparatus for distillation were erected in the vicinity of 

 saw mills or where the wood splitter prosecutes his business. The 

 Stringybark has a much wider range than many of the Australian 

 Eucalypti, and is moreover quite gregarious, forming the main bulk of 

 the timber in the barren mountainous districts ; it is known from 

 Spencer's Gulf to New South Wales, and extends also into Tasmania. 



The essential oil from E. fabrorum is a transparent reddish-yellow 

 fluid of a mild odour, as compared with goniocalyx and globulus, and 

 much less disagreeable. In taste it resembles the other Eucaryptine 

 oils, but is rather more irritating in the mouth, and also distinctly bitter 

 though less unpleasant. Its specific gravity is 0'899, and its boiling 

 points are respectively 340° and 382° ; cooled to 0° F. it becomes 

 turbid and opalescent. It will- be perceived that this phenomenon, 

 which also takes place with E. amygdalina, harmonises with the high 

 boiling points which they both possess, whilst globidus which boils 

 as low as 300° does not separate any frozen portion when cooled to 

 zero. 



With iodine this oil behaves as does amygdalina. In the lamp it 

 gives a fine flame, but one not quite so white as that from E. goniocalyx 

 and E. globulus. 100 lbs. of freshly-gathered leaves from the stringybark 



