TWO CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS FROM THE EUCALYPT8. 61 



NOTES ON TWO CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS PROM 

 THE EUCALYPTS. 



By Henry G. Smith, f.c.s., Assistant Curator, Techno- 

 logical Museum. 



[Bead before the Royal Society of N. 8. Wales, July 2, 1902. .] 



(1) Geranyl-acetate (C 10 H 17 OOCOH 3 ). 



In November 1900, the announcement was made to this 

 Society, of the occurrence of this important ester in the 

 oil of the " Paddy's River Box," Eucalyptus Macarthuri, 

 Deane and Maiden, from which species it was obtainable 

 in commercial quantities. The results of the investigation 

 were published in the Proceedings for 1900, Vol. xxxiv., 

 p. 142. Since that time a considerable amount of work 

 has been done on the oil of this species, distilled at various 

 times of the year, and some interesting results have been 

 obtained. 



The comparative constancy of constituents occurring in 

 the oils of identical species of Eucalyptus, is a fact of con- 

 siderable economic value, and although the naturally formed 

 ester in the oil of E. Macarbliurl varies between 60 and 75 

 per cent., yet, it is found that this variation is between 

 the constituents themselves which are always present in 

 the oil ; accordingly when the ester (geranyl-acetate) is 

 more pronounced, then the free geraniol is correspondingly 

 less. Samples of the oil distilled during several months of 

 the year show the minimum ester content to be about 60 

 per cent., and it has not been found that the ester present 

 falls below the amount stated in the original paper. 

 Although the ester content reached 74*9 per cent, in the 

 month of September, yet this was entirely geranyl-acetate, 

 and the saponification was complete in the cold, after two 



