— 54 — 



during which time all the bottles had been left untouched and exposed 

 to diffused light only, the sp. gr. had risen still more in many instances, 

 but in almost an equal number of cases it had remained unchanged, so 

 that is was impossible to lay down any general rule on the subject. The 

 colour of the different oils had also undergone varying degrees of altera- 

 tion; in most cases all oils of which the sp. gr. had risen had become 

 darker, but here also no regular rule could be established. Sage believes 

 that the condition of the corks may account for the darkening of the 

 colour, the oils acting upon certain constituents of the corks. The same 

 applies to cassia oil, Ceylon cinnamon oil and pimento oil, for which 

 reason Sage recommends that such oils should only be kept in glass- 

 stoppered vessels. 



The Pharmaceutical Journal 1 ) comments upon a case of poisoning 

 with clove oil, the victim being a child of eighteen months which had 

 accidentally drunk out of a vial containing clove oil and died of collapse 

 in the course of an hour. 



Cocoanut Oil, Essential. As mentioned by us in our previous Report, 

 Haller and Lassieur 2 ) have discovered the presence of high-molecular ali- 

 phatic ketones in essential oil of cocoanuts. 



Since the publication of their previous article the authors 3 ) have 

 examined fresh samples of this interesting oil, with the following results: 

 The oil had a rotation +0°28' in a 200 mm.-tube, it contained 0,7% acids 

 (calculated as caproic acid) and 12°/ alcohols (calculated as methylnonyl- 

 carbinol), as also traces of an aldehyde which was not further investigated. 



The alcohols were separated from the ketones with phthalic anhydride 

 and from the mixture of alcohols two fractions boiling respectively at 

 190 to 195° (I) and 228 to 233° (II), were separated. 



Fraction I consisted of a liquid with a pronounced odour, and possessing 

 the following properties: d^ 0,823, « D +2°, n D2 io 1,4249, mol. ref. 44,8, 

 calc. as C9H20O 45,0. The analyses agreed with the formula C 9 H 20 O. When 

 oxidised with chromic acid mixture a methylheptylketone was formed; 

 hence the alcohol was d-methylheptylcarbinol, CH 3 CHOHC 7 Hi 5 , the optical 

 antipode of which occurs in oil of rue 4 ). The differences in the rotation 

 (methylheptylcarbinol from oil of rue rotates — 7°28') are ascribed by the 

 authors to an inversion which is caused by the treatment with phthalic 

 anhydride. 



Fraction II contained an alcohol with the following properties: d^ 0,827, 

 « D -hl°10', n D23 o 1,4336, mol. refr. 54,1, calc. as CuH 24 54,2. The an- 



x ) Pharmaceutical Journ. 85 (1910), 350. 



2 ) Compt. rend. 150 (1910), 1013. Report October 1910, 40. 



3 ) Compt. rend. 151 (1910), 697. 

 *) Comp. Report April 1903, 69. 



