— 147 — 



hyde which reacted both with neutral and with acid sodium bisulphite, 

 and otherwise agreed in every respect with the aldehyde contained in the 

 oil of Perilla uankwensis, except that it rotated in the opposite direction. 

 The properties of the aldehyde isolated with sodium bisulphite were as 

 follows: b. p. 234 to 236° (743 mm.), 98 to 100° (7 mm.), d 15 o 0,9730, « D 

 + 137° 40 ', n D20O 1,50802. The aldehyde was evidently not yet quite pure, 

 which may explain the slight discrepancies between the two aldehydes. 

 The oxime, like that of the first aldehyde, melted at 101 to 102°, the 

 phenylhydrazone at 107 to 108°, an inactive mixture of the two aldehydes 

 gave rise to derivatives showing the same melting points. The portions 

 of the oil which did not react with bisulphite contained small proportions 

 of cineol, which were isolated by means of the resorcinol compound. 



Oil of Thymbra spicata. The labiate Thymbra spicata L, a native 

 of Greece and Asia Minor, is a shrub-like plant closely allied to the genus 

 Thymus. We have distilled some of this herb, which came from Smyrna, 

 and obtained a yield of 1,5% of a yellowish oil with an odour reminding 

 of thyme and origanum, and containing about 66°/o of carvacrol. The oil 

 had the following constants: di 5 o 0,9460, « D + 0, n D20 o 1,50675; soluble in 

 3,5 vol. of 70% alcohol. 



Oil of Xanthoxylum alatum. From London we received under the 

 name of "Chinese Wild Pepper" the fruit of Xanthoxylum alatum Roxb., a 

 shrub belonging to the Rutacese, which occurs in the mountains of Northern 

 Bengal as well as in China. Upon distillation the fruit yielded 3,7% of 

 a lemon-yellow oil with a peculiar odour, reminding of oil of water-fennel. 

 Continued distillation yielded, in addition, 0,9% of a crystalline substance. 

 We were compelled to abandon the attempt to dissolve this substance in 

 the oil in the proportion indicated, because the bulk of the solid constituents 

 again separated out even at a temperature of 25 to 30°. The properties 

 of the oil and of the solid substance were therefore determined separately. 

 The oil behaved as follows: di 5 o 0,8653, « D — 23° 35', n D20O 1,48131, acid no. 

 9,9, ester no. 10,3, ester no. after acetyl. 33,6, soluble in 2,6 vol. and more 

 of 90% alcohol. According to these analytical values the oil appears to 

 consist chiefly of hydrocarbons, the nature of which remains to be elu- 

 cidated by further investigation. The odour suggests the presence of 

 phellandrene. 



The solid substance which was obtained in the process of distillation, 

 after being twice recrystallised from alcohol, presented colourless, odourless, 

 optically inactive needles or leaflets, m. p. 83°. It was very readily soluble 

 in ether, chloroform, and acetone, a little less readily in alcohol, benzene, 

 and light petroleum (all three of which solvents are very suitable for re- 

 crystallising the body), and was insoluble in water. The substance is not 

 an acid, it appears rather to be a phenol or lactone-like compound, as 

 is evident from the fact that is does not react with solutions of alkaline 



10* 



