- 63 - 



The apparatus is usually erected alongside a mountain stream, 

 often far removed from the trees which are to be distilled. The 

 filling with the cut up wood (the apparatus referred to above 

 holds about 5 cwts. of chips) is so arranged, that a space of some 

 10 inches from the top of the still is left empty; next, so much water 

 is added, that the wood is fairly well covered and that a space of 

 some 7 or 7Y3 inches from the rim is still empty when the cover is 

 put on. For stopping up the joints a coal-black clay is used, on the 

 top of which damp cloths are laid. 



6 to 7 Indians are employed for working the apparatus; of these, 

 4 cut up the wood in discs which are at once put in bags so as to 

 avoid volatilisation of the oil. (One man can cut up about iy 2 to 

 2 cwts. of wood daily.) One man looks after the fire, which is fed 

 exclusively with wood from which the oil has been distilled, and one 

 watches the progress of the distillation which lasts about 18 to 20 hours 

 each time the still is filled. 



The price paid at the still for wood in larger logs is 50 centavos 

 (if-) per arroba (25Y2 lbs.). 



Of the oil distilled in the presence of Mr. Seyffert, which probably 

 originated from Bursera aloexylon Engl., we received a sample which 

 had the following properties: the colour was bright yellow; d^o 0,8836; 

 a D _io°58 / ; n D20 o 1,46377; acid no. 5,6; ester no. 19,3; soluble 

 in 1,8 and more vol. 70 per cent, alcohol. 



Milfoil Oil. Arthur Sieve rs 1 ) has on various occasions in 

 1904 distilled milfoil oil from Achillea millefolium L., and he now 

 publishes the results obtained in the examination of these oils, giving 

 them, along with earlier statements in literature on Achillea oils, in the 

 form of a table for purposes of comparison. We reproduce here 

 only the new results. 



Oil I. Obtained from the fresh herb, which was cut in the 

 morning, and distilled on the following day. Yield 0,234 %. Deep 

 blue; di 8 o 0,876; sap. no. 37,7 = 13,2 % bornyl acetate, or 10,27 % 

 C 10 H 17 OH; sap. no. after acetylation 74 = 20,35% tota l alcohol 

 C 10 H 17 OH. 



Oil II. Distilled somewhat later from the entire plant; the herb 

 had been previously dried, and had given off 57% water - Yield of 

 oil from the dried herb 0,237%. Deep blue; d 18 o 0,8935; sap. 

 no. 29,3 = 10% bornyl acetate, or 8% C 10 H 17 OH; sap. no. after 

 acetylation 66,4 = 19,25% total alcohol C 10 H 17 OH. 



Oil III. Distilled from fresh blossoms; this was also dark blue. 



In order to discover the body causing the blue coloration of the 

 oils, Sievers saponified oil II, but the colour remained; he thereupon 



*) Pharm. Review 25 (1907), 215. 



