ESSENTIAL OIL AND SOLID CAMPHOR IN E. PIPERITA. 197 
that at once distinguishes it from £. eugenioides, Sieb., and £. 
capitellata, Sm., its allied species. The valves are not exserted. 
Hab. The whole coast district and eastern mountain ranges of 
the Colony. 
(c) DescrIPTION AND OHEMISTRY OF THE OIL. 
Our oil was without doubt obtained from the same variety as 
Dr. White’s, viz., the coast or type form of Z. piperita. As we 
are more directly concerned with the economic side of the question 
we endeavoured to carry out our distillations on lines we could 
recommend to the commercial world, consequently we made no 
attempt to collect only leaves, as it does not appear to us to be 
‘payable to treat these solely, in the face of the present market 
rate of labour ; so we had only the ultimate branchlets with their 
leaves collected. These were placed in six wire baskets in a still 
capable of holding 200 to 250 Ibs. of material, and a low pressure 
applied; about 80% of the oil obtained came over in about one 
hour and a half. Commercially we do not recommend the distill- 
ation to be continued longer than two hours. 
The oil is very light in colour and had a distinct peppermint 
odour, which however diminishes after a few weeks. As distilled 
it has a specific gravity of -9096 at 17° C., and a specific rotation 
‘of (a),- 2-97. The levo-rotation is perhaps partly due to the 
presence of the terpene phellandrene, as this substance was readily 
detected by the usual methods, although it is not present in large 
quantity. The amount of Eucalyptol in the fraction boiling 
between 172-4° and 182-8° was found to be 245 per cent. using 
the phosphoric acid method. 
The first rectification of 100 cc. of the crude oil gave the 
following results :— 
The fraction of oil distilling between’ ¥= Ll oe 0. = —— 
phage = 9. 
1 These temperatures are corrected. — 
