— 54 — 



herb Tetranthera citrata which has a very similar odour. In Mexico 

 lemongrass is called Te limon, as we have already mentioned in a 

 previous Report 1 ). According to Sawer a beverage prepared from 

 lemongrass is called there by the same name. 



Limette Oil. To the kindness of Sir Daniel Morris, Imperial 

 Commissioner of Agriculture in Barbadoes (W. I.) we are indebted for 

 two limette oils 2 ) originating from Dominica, viz., one obtained by ex- 

 pression [hand-pressed lime oil), and a distilled oil {distilled lime oil). 

 We give below the constants* of the two oils, which, in view of the 

 comparative scarcity of authentic samples, are of particular interest. 



1. Hand-p7 r essed lime oil: d 15 o 0,9008 ; «d ~\~ 3 6° 1 7' '; a D °^ * ne 

 first io°/ of the distillate -J- 39 30'; acid number 6,05; ester 

 number 29,55; residue on evaporation i7,8°/ ; soluble in 4 and more 

 vol. 90 per cent, alcohol with slight cloudiness in consequence of 

 separation of paraffin. The dilute alcoholic solution shows a faint blue 

 fluorescence, which renders the presence of anthranilic ester probable. 

 The oil has a golden yellow colour and possesses a pleasant refreshing 

 odour which greatly resembles that of lemon oil. 



2. Distilled lime oil. The bright-yellow oil, which possesses a dis- 

 agreeable odour like turpentine or pine tar oil, had the following 

 constants: d 15 o 0,8656; « D -j-46°36'; « D of the first io°/ of the 

 distillate -J- 53 8'; acid number 1,8; ester number 4,05; residue on 

 evaporation 3,i6°/ ; soluble with slight cloudiness in 4,5 and more 

 vol. 90 per cent, alcohol. 



H. E. Burgess and Th. H. Page 3 ) report on the composition of 

 distilled limette oil. For the examination they used a concentrated oil, 

 which by distillation at reduced pressure was divided into two prin- 

 cipal fractions, of which the former, passing over, at 1 7 mm., between 

 ioo° and 105 , consisted chiefly of 1-terpineol of the melting point 3 5 °. 

 The liquid portions were removed from it by freezing out, and it was 

 then purified by recrystallisation from alcohol: d 15 o 0,941; «d — 20 ; 

 n D20° ^4829; boiling point 2 1 4 (762 mm.). The compound was further 

 identified by the production of various derivatives. 



As the fraction containing the terpineol had the characteristic odour 

 of distilled limette oil, but the isolated terpineol of the melting point 35 

 is almost odourless, Burgess and Page believe that the actual odour- 



J ) Report October 1903, 4b. 



2 ) With regard to limette oil, comp. also Gildemeister and Hoffmann, 

 "The Volatile Oils", p. 477. 



3 ) Journ. chem. Soc. 85 (1904), 414. Unfortunately the authors do not state 

 the origin of the oil, a matter which is rather important in view of the difference 

 between the West Indian and Italian oils. We surmise that it was a West 

 Indian oil. 



