— 108 — 



aldehyde he employed phenylhydrazin, filtered off the phenylhydrazone 

 formed, and after drying weighed it. He made use of pure crystallised 

 amygdalin for controlling the process. A weighed quantity of the last- 

 named substance was mixed with 60 cc. water and with sufficient emulsin 

 to complete the decomposition of the glucoside in 2 to 3 days at 15 

 to 20°. He then distilled 50 cc. off form the mixture, and mixed the 

 distillate with 50 cc. of a solution which contained in 100 cc, 1 cc. freshly 

 distilled phenylhydrazin and 0,5 cc. glacial acetic acid, so that a large excess 

 of phenylhydrazin was present. He then heated for 20 to 30 minutes 

 in a boiling water bath, and after 1 2 hours filtered the phenylhydra- 

 zone formed in a Gooch's crucible, washed with 20 cc. cold water and 

 dried in a vacuum exsiccator. In five estimations with constantly 

 diminishing quantities of amygdalin, he thus founed in amygdalin an 

 increasing content of 21,09 to 22 >5% benzaldehyde, whilst theoretic- 

 ally 23,1 9 °/ are required. Herissey recommends that in carrying 

 out the determination only such quantities of benzaldehyde should be 

 used, as yield 0,1 to 0,25 gm. phenylhydrazone, and for the rest to 

 follow the course indicated for amygdalin. 



A contribution to the knowledge of the essential oils of the Hepaticae 

 by Karl M tiller 1 ) is intended to supply a further proof that the 

 view of Pfeffer 2 ) which at present is still generally accepted, that 

 the oil bodies of the Hepaticae consist chiefly of fatty oil with small 

 admixtures of protein substances and water, is erroneous. The author 

 examined only Jungermanniaceae, viz., — 



1. Mastigobryum trilobatum L. This hepatica when dried in the 

 air loses 90 /o °f its weight, and yields on rational steam-distillation 

 0,93 °/ of the dry substance of an orange-yellow essential oil, which 

 resembles in the odour sandal and cedarwood, but at the same 

 time reminds of the odour of pine-needles d^o 0,945 to 0,947 (a 

 sample distilled with a bad yield had di 5 o 0,975); [a] D -(- 12,88° 

 (determined with undiluted oil); saponification number 5,4. On saponi- 

 fication, an acid mass, semi-solid at 16°, was obtained, which yielded 

 a white lead salt, soluble in ether. The bulk of the oil boiled at 

 260 to 270°. The distillate had a blue-green colour, d2o° 0,946; 

 Md -f- 25,59°; it contained 87,06 °/ C and 12,65% H. When this 

 principal fraction was oxidised with chromic acid and glacial acetic 

 acid, a body C 10 H 16 O was obtained (boiling point 260°), and for 

 this reason the author attributes to the crude material the terpene 

 formula C 10 H 16 . The last runnings of the oil (boiling point 270 



x ) Zeitschr. f. physiol. Chem. 45 (1905) 299 Accord, to Chem. Centralbl. 

 1905, II, 768. Comp. also Report April 1904, 106. 



2 ) The oil bodies of the hepaticae, "Flora" 1874, No. 1 to 3. 



