»)<M 



ester probably consists of styra.-jn (.•nniainyi cijwuiiiKit.fi 

 which is common to many plants. No acid of the fatty 

 series could be detected, nor was any low boiling alcohol 

 obtained after saponification. 



The crude oil is slightly laevo-rotatory, and this property 

 is entirely due to the presence of about two or three per 

 cent. of laevo-rotatory phellandrene. This terpene, although 

 occurring in so small an amount, could be separated from 

 the bulk of the oil by steam distillation, afterwards recover- 

 ing tin- phellandrene from the product by direct distillation. 

 The methyl-eugenol came over with difficulty when steam 

 distilled, thus allowing the separation of the phellandrene 

 to take place with comparative ease. 



Three consignments of material were received, collected 

 in the months of March, May and July. Separate collec- 

 tions were made so that the oil might be distilled during 

 the various times of the year, and differences in compo- 

 sition, if any, during the various periods be detected. Only 

 slight differences, however, were shown in the character 

 of the oil of this species at any time. The ester in the 

 May sample was somewhat less in amount than in the 

 others, the July distillate containing the most. The saponi- 

 fication numbers for the three samples were 5'3, 17*1 and 

 20-8. Although this variation in the amount of ester was 

 shown, yet the character and constituents of the oils were 

 in general agreement. The yield of oil obtainable from 

 the leaves and terminal branchlets is about If. It is 

 heavier than water, so that it would be necessary to vary 

 the usual method of commercial distillation as carried out 

 in the preparation of Eucalyptus oils, for instance. It is 

 probable that methyl-eugenol could be obtained from this 

 species of Melaleuca more cheaply and in larger quantity 

 than from any other source. We have shown 1 that the oil 



1 " Research on the Pin.s ..f Australia," Sydney, June, 1910, p. 406. 



