— 55 — 



alytical results also indicated the formula C11H24O. Oxidation with chromic 

 acid mixture gave rise to a ketone with a semicarbazone melting at 120 

 to 122°. There is no room for doubt that the alcohol C11H24O is d-methyl- 

 nonylcarbinol, CH3CHOHC9H19, and the semicarbazone methylnonylketone 

 semicarbazone. The optical antipode (« D — 6° 12') of this alcohol also 

 occurs in oil of rue. 



Besides methylheptyl and methylnonylketone, the authors also detected 

 the presence of methylundecylketone, CH3COC11H23. This ketone was 

 discovered in a fraction boiling between 260 and 265°. Liberated from 

 the semicarbazone (m. p. 121 to 122°) the ketone formed a white mass 

 melting at 29°. The properties agree closely with those of the synthetic 

 product (m. p. 28°; b. p. 263 °) 1 ). 



The authors express the opinion that the ketones and alcohols which 

 occur in essential oil of cocoanut have their origin in an as yet unknown 

 body which is present in the coprah, and are formed by action of an enzyme. 



Copal Oil. Essential oil of Manila copal (from Agathis alba, Lam.), con- 

 cerning the constitution of which but little has been known so far 2 ), has 

 recently been thoroughly investigated by G. F. Richmond 3 ) and B. T. Brooks 4 ). 

 The first-named distilled the resin with steam and obtained therefrom a 

 lemon-yellow oil of agreeable odour, possessing the following characteristics: 

 d~| 0,865, « D30O —26,55°, n D30 o 1,4648. The principal fraction of the oil 

 boiled between 155 and 165° and contained «-pinene (m. p. of the hydro- 

 chloride 124°). 



Brooks has investigated the oil in a more searching manner, having 

 prepared it not only by steam distillation, but also by dry distillation, the 

 yield being about 6%. Among the separate constituents he detected: 

 d-limonene (m. p. of the tetrabromide 104°), d-«-pinene (m. p. of the nitrol 

 benzylamine 122 to 112°), /?-pinene (m. p. of the nopinic acid 124 to 125°) 

 and camphene (identified by conversion into isoborneol). The author, in 

 view of the low optical rotation of the d-limonene, also supposes the 

 presence of dipentene. 



In the course of the process of dry distillation of Manila copal the 

 following bodies were also generated, viz., carbon dioxide, carbon monox- 

 ide and unsaturated hydrocarbons. The presence of the following in the 

 water of distillation was ascertained, viz., formic acid, acetic acid, form- 

 aldehyde, acetyl formaldehyde (pyruvic aldehyde) (m. p. of the osa- 

 zone 135°), furfurol, methyl alcohol and acetone. 



Coriander Oil. The prices of this oil have not been affected 

 by the scarcity of distilling material to the extent which we had feared, 



3 ) Krafft, Berl. Berichte 12 (1879), 1667. 



2 ) Comp. Report October 1902, 31; April 1906, 22. 



3 ) Philippine Journ. of Sc. 5 (1910), A. 185 

 *) IUdem, 203. 



