— 112 — 



and Spanish oils also occur, and we are now able to give a further 

 example of this experience 1 ). Recently, having occasion to distil rosemary 

 leaves produced in Spain, we obtained an oil which was not only faintly 

 laevorotatory but which also, strictly speaking, did not conform with the 

 above-mentioned requirements as regards its specific gravity. The oil, 

 which had an exceptionally fine aroma, behaved as follows: di 5 o 0,8975, 

 a D — 2°50'; a D of the initial 10°/o of the distillate — l°40 r , acid no. 0,9, 

 ester no. 6,5 = 2,3°/o ester (bornyl acetate), ester no. after acetyl. 35,7 = 10,l°/o 

 total borneol. Insoluble in 10 vols. 80°/o alcohol; soluble in 0,3 vol. and 

 more 90°/o alcohol. 



It is evident from the above instance as well as from others that 

 laevorotatory rosemary oils do occur, although as a rule the rotation to 

 the left is likely to be due to adulteration with turpentine oil. It may not 

 always be easy to decide which is actually the case, in particular when 

 the addition of turpentine oil is only small, and in many cases it will be 

 necessary to judge by the odour. 



In an article which also deals with the rotation of rosemary oil, and 

 which is in the main a repetition of a joint publication by himself and 

 Bennett 2 ) which appeared years ago, Parry 3 ) proposes the following limits 

 for rosemary oil: di 50 0,895 to 0,920, « D — 9 to +18°, n D20 o about 1,467 

 to 1,469, bornyl acetate not less than 2,5°/ , total borneol at least 10°/ . 



The limits laid down for the rotation appear to us to be rather widely 

 drawn, and on the other hand we have observed undoubtedly pure rosemary 

 distillates of which the ester-content was as low as l,2°/ and that of 

 total borneol as low as 9 /o. 



Sage oil from Cyprus. We have recently received from the Imperial 

 Institute in London a sample of a sage oil distilled in Cyprus. The oil 

 was pale yellow, with a peculiar odour, differing somewhat from the 

 normal, and possessed the following constants: di 5 o 0,9263, « D — 6° 15', 

 "D20O 1,46664, acid no. 0, ester no. after acetylation 36,0; soluble with 

 opalescence in its own vol. of 80°/o alcohol; with a small proportion of 

 90°/o alcohol it gives at first a clear solution which, however, also opalesces 

 when diluted. Although on the whole the oil somewhat resembles the 

 ordinary Dalmatian oils, it differs decidedly from the latter in its being 

 laevorotatory. It may, however, be closely allied to the sage oils from 

 Corfu which we have described on a previous occasion 4 ), although the 

 latter have a lower specific gravity. 



Samphire Oil. Up to the present the only known constituents of 

 samphire oil were dillapiol and two hydrocarbons of the terpene series, one 



!) Comp. Report October 1906, 68. 



2 ) Chemist and Druggist 68 (1906), 671. 



3 ) Americ. Perfumer 5 (1910), 134. 

 ^) Report April 1909, 82. 



