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Oil of Thuja leaves. We abstract the following from a com- 

 munication from E. Ayer 1 ) on this oil which originates from the white 

 cedar, Thuja occidentalis L. The oil of Thuja occidentalis is, in spite of 

 its totally different properties, often confounded with that of Juniperus 

 virginiana L., the red cedar. In Pennsylvania and the States to the 

 North of it, the white cedar is generally called "swamp cedar". The 

 leaves and twigs of Thuja occidentalis are said to contain up to I °/ 

 oil. Since many years the oil is distilled more especially in the Northern 

 and Eastern districts of Vermont, but the result of the distillation 

 and particulary the quality of the oil are dependent upon various 

 circumstances. The trees which are on all sides open to the sunlight 

 are the best. The distilling plant is frequently of a very primitive 

 character. The most important function during the whole process is 

 the filling of the stills with the branches and leaves, as gaps must if 

 possible be avoided in the distillation. The higher the steam pressure, 

 the richer the yield. Sometimes oil of thuja leaves is water- white, but 

 often, when the trees have grown in shady places, it is dark- 

 coloured. Cold weather affects the oil-content of the wood, but not 

 that of the leaves. Thuja leaf oil forms an important constituent of 

 the ointments employed against scurvy, rheumatism, etc.; it is even 

 used against cancer, and its purity is consequently the most im- 

 portant factor. In spite of this it is frequently adulterated with tur- 

 pentine oil and petroleum, chiefly by the middlemen. The annual 

 production of this oil is difficult to estimate, as it is subject to large 

 fluctuations. 



Turpentine Oil. From the results of the fractional distillation 

 of American and French oils of turpentine, B. Ahlstrom and 

 O. Aschan 2 ) draw the conclusion that turpentine oil contains, in 

 addition to pinene, a further terpene (or perhaps more than one) 

 which has a rotatory power opposite to that of the pinene belonging 

 to it. Not even the pinene fractions proper (155 to 156 ) consisted 

 exclusively of pinene. The hydrochlorides of pinene produced from 

 the two oils pointed to the probability that it was a question of a 

 pseudo-pinene according to Semmler. But the fact that the quan- 

 tities of hydrochloride obtained from the higher fractions diminished 

 considerably, whilst pseudo-pinene should give addition - products 

 identical with those of pinene, rendered this assumption untenable. 

 Further examinations now showed that the higher pinene fractions no 

 doubt contained larger quantities of pseudo-pinene, but that this is 

 not the only foreign constituent of these fractions. Aschan assumes 

 therefore that possibly cymene or limonene may be present, although 



*) Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter, June 25, 1906, 17. 

 2 ) Berl. Berichte 39 (1906), 1441. 



