518 R. T. BAKER AND H. G. SMITH. 



Our attention was first directed to an increased amount 

 of cineol in the oil of this species in trees growing in the 

 Southern Coast District of New South Wales, by Mr. W. T. 

 Farrell, early in 1913. He had collected his specimens at 

 Nerrigundah, in which locality the "Narrow-leaved Pepper- 

 mint" or "Black Peppermint" occurs somewhat abund- 

 antly. Arrangements were soon made to distil the oil in 

 commercial quantities, and for some time analyses were 

 made at the Technological Museum on the oil collected 

 each mouth. In November of that year the Museum Col- 

 lector sent material from Yourie and Tanto, in the Cobargo 

 district. This was distilled at the Museum, and the results 

 of the analysis of the oil are given in this paper. Later, 

 one of us paid a visit to this portion of New South Wales, 

 and by the courtesy of the District Forester at Moruya, 

 Mr. Olulee, and of his assistant, Mr. Harrison, who drove 

 his car, was enabled to make extensive observations, over a 

 considerable area of country, concerning this Eucalyptus. 

 Since that time, numerous analyses of the oil have been 

 made for distillers, who have prepared the oil for market, 

 and quite a minor industry has been established in the 

 production of this particular Eucalyptus oil. 



The determinations of rotation so far made has mostly 

 shown the first hour oil to be slightly dextro-rotatory, 

 although if the distillation be continued longer, the resulting 

 oil may be slightly laevo-rotatory. This result appears to 

 be due to the phellandrene not distilling so readily as does 

 the cineol. Further improvements in this method of first 

 distillation, will result in the production of a pharmaceutical 

 oil from this species growing in other localities, and already 

 experiments, in a small way, have succeeded in producing 

 an oil containing as much as 70% of cineol, although the 

 whole oil would not contain more than about 45% of that 

 constituent. The separation of the phellandrene from the 

 cineol by direct distillation cannot be so satisfactorily 



