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Novelties. 



Some new oils obtained from the Imperial Biologico - Agricultural 

 Institute of Amani (German East Africa) have been examined by 

 R. Schmidt and K. Weilinger 1 ). 



Oil from the bark of Ocotea usambarensis Engl. The 



bark of this tree which belongs to the Lauraceae and which is found 

 in fairly large numbers in the primeval forests, yielded o, 1 5 °/ essential 

 oil of the following properties: boiling point at 10 mm. pressure 50 

 to 160 , d 2 o°o,9i3, n D 1,476, «D20° — :I ° I2 '> ac ^ num ber 1,2, ester 

 number 12,5; content of free alcohols (C i0 H 18 O) 4,5%; free from 

 sulphur and nitrogen. By shaking the oil with potash liquor, 0,3 °/ 

 of a phenol not further identified were obtained, and by means of 

 bisulphite liquor I °/ myristinic aldehyde which was identified by 

 its semicarbazone (melting point 100 to 101 ) and by oxidation into 

 myristinic acid. When the oil was shaken with hydrazin benzene 

 sulphoacid, a very small quantity of a ketone was obtained, whose 

 semicarbazone melted at 19 7 . The oil further contained 4O°/ cineol 

 (identified by the iodol compound), 40 °/ 1-terpineol (boiling point 100 

 to no° at 12 mm. pressure; d 2 o° 0,922; n D 1,484; «d — 37 6') 

 which was detected by conversion into dipentene dihydrochloride 

 (melting point 46 °), and io°/ sesquiterpene C 15 H 24 (boiling point 

 136 to 142 at 12 mm pressure: d 20 o 0,915, n i>i,535; a D+7 4°')> 

 whose dihydrochloride (melting point 116 to 11 7 ) is not identical with 

 cadinene hydrochloride. 



Oil of Piper Volkensii C. D. C. The leaves of this plant 

 which is found in considerable numbers in the damp forests of 

 Usambara, yielded 0,3 °/ essential oil of a bright -brown colour, 

 and a powerful pleasant odour, which had the following properties: 

 boiling point 90 to 1 75 at 12 mm. pressure, d 2 o° 0,934, n D 1,5017, 

 «d — 8° 24', ester-content 6 °/ geranyl acetate, content of free 

 alcohols 14 °/ C 10 H 18 O. By means of phthalic acid anhydride there 

 were abstracted from the oil 4°/ of a primary alcohol (possibly 

 citronellol). The principal fraction (7O°/ ) of the saponified oil boiled 

 at 1 3 5 to 1 4 8°, at 15 mm. pressure, and absorbed bromine with 

 formation of a bromide C 11 H 12 3 Br. 2 (melting point 12 2°), which was 

 reconverted into the body C n H 12 O s by reduction with zinc dust and 

 glacial acetic acid. As this product contains i4,i°/o methoxyl, the 

 authors believe that they may possibly have to deal with a methoxyl- 

 ized safrol. In addition to this, they detected in the principal fraction 

 the sesquiterpene limene found by Burgess and Page in oil of 



*) Berl. Berichte 39 (1906), 652. 



