— 30 — 



Bayberry Oil. An oil distilled by F. Rabak 1 ) from the leaves and twigs 

 of Myrica cerifera, L. (N. O. Myricacea?) gave the following constants: 

 d 0,9168, [«] D — 1,5°, n D25 o 1,4945, acid v. 3,5, ester v. 21, sap. v. after acet. 58. 

 The oil was soluble in one-half its own vol. of 90% alcohol, the solution 

 becoming turbid upon the addition of 2 vols, or more; it was insoluble in 

 80°/o alcohol. The yield was 0,015% (calc. based upon green herb?). 



Rabak describes the oil as a novelty, but this is not quite correct, the 

 distillate having been mentioned by Hambricht 2 ) as long ago as the year 1863, 

 and having been described by us in our Report of October 1894, p. 70. 



Birch Bud Oil. A few weeks ago we were successful in procuring 

 in Russia a fine parcel of birch buds, the distillation of which has enabled 

 us to make a corresponding reduction in our prices. We strongly urge 

 the larger consumers to secure a quantity for delivery as required, ex- 

 perience having shown that it is very often difficult to procure supplies 

 of raw material. 



Buchu Leaf Oil. Unfortunately there has been no change in the 

 position of this article. We have not yet succeeded in replenishing our 

 stocks, for we have been unable to discover raw material suitable for 

 distilling. The demand, it is true, has been very slight, so that the lack 

 of supplies has not been particularly severely felt. 



Oil of Bupleurum fruticosum. L. Francesconi and G. Sanna 3 ) have 

 discovered that the oil of this umbellifer 4 ), in addition to an alcohol and an 

 ether of unknown character, contains a large proportion of a terpene pos- 

 sessing the following characters: b. p. 167 to 169°, di 4 o 0,8416, « D i70 + 35,7°, 

 n 1,4862. It polymerises into a white, amorphous mass, m. p. 90 to 100° 

 (Md- 66,14°). 



The same authors, in another paper, which has been published in the 

 Atti R. Accad. deiLincei, Roma (5), 20, II. (1911), p. 190 5 ), describe the action 

 of nitrosyl chloride upon the essential oil. They dissolved 5 cc. of the 

 oil in 20 cc. alcohol, admixed thereto 7 cc. amyl nitrite or 11 cc. ethyl 

 nitrite and diluted with 8,5 to 9 cc. alcohol which had been saturated with 

 hydrogen chloride. Treated by this method, the various fractions always 

 yielded the same nitrosochloride, whereas Wallach's method gave no result. 

 The nitrosochloride probably represents a mixture; it melts between 80 

 and 97°, chiefly between 92 and 94°; [«] D -196,2 to -210,6°. By dissolving 



" f 



!) Midland Drugg. and pharm. Review 45 (1911), 484. 



2 ) Americ. Journ. Pharm. 35 (1863), 193. 



?) Gazz. chim. ital. 41 (1911), I. 796. Copies of this paper, and of those mentioned in 

 the succeeding paragraphs, were kindly sent to us by the authors. Quoted from Chem. 

 Zentralbl. 1911, II. 1450. 



*) Comp. Report October 1911, 23. 



B ) Quoted from Chem. Zentralbl. 1911, II. 1805. 



