Commercial notes and scientific information. 35 



According to the British Pharmacopoeia the sp. gr. of cajuput oil should be 0,922 

 to 0,930 (15,5°), a demand which has already repeatedly caused complaints, because 

 it is not in accordance with fact. It has been pointed out in various quarters that 

 the sp. gr. of normal oils may fall as low as 0,919 and in England efforts have been 

 made to ensure that in a new edition of the Pharmacopoeia this fact shall be recognised. 

 Until that edition appears, however, the prescriptions of the existing Pharmacopoeia 

 must be followed, and this may occasionally lead to the "doctoring" of an oil with 

 too low a sp. gr. 



Such an oil Umney 1 ) believes to have met with. Its sp. gr. was 0,924 and in this 

 respect it therefore complied with the B. P. requirements, but singularly enough the 

 oil was dextrorotatory (« D about +2°) whereas ordinarily cajuput oil is lasvorotatory. 

 In addition, the oil contained remarkably few low-boiling fractions, for up to 185° 

 only 14 p. c. of it passed over, as compared with 50 p. c. in a normal oil. As a con- 

 sequence, the cineol-content was also very low, for instead of 60 p. c, as in a normal 

 oil, the phosphoric acid method only indicated 14 p. c. Umney is of opinion that the 

 oil was originally normal, but that it had been fractionated and its sp. gr. increased 

 by the rejection of the first fraction in order to make it conform with the B. P. standard. 

 In the course of this manipulation it was unavoidable that, along with the terpenes, 

 a considerable quantity of cineol (which boils within very nearly the same range as 

 the terpenic constituents) was lost. 



Oil of Calamintha Nepeta. In the course of the summer of last year, oil has 

 been distilled in Sicily from the green (?) herb of Calamintha Nepeta, Link et Hoffm. 

 (N. O. Labiatce). The yield was 0,1426 p. c. and the oil, which was of a brownish 

 colour, had an odour reminding of oil of pennyroyal 2 ). Its constants were as follow: 

 d 150 0,9249, a D -j- 17° 48', acid v. 1,4, sap. v. 12,6, ester v. after acet. 48,5, sol. in 3 vols. 

 70 p. c, 2 vols. 75 p. a, and 0,5 vols. 80 p. c. alcohol. When more 70 or 75 p. c. alcohol 

 is added the mixture turns cloudy or becomes opalescent. The estimation of pulegone 

 with neutral sodium sulphite gave a pulegone content of 20 p. c. In addition to pulegone 

 the oil probably contains menthone. This is indicated by the fact that the ester value 

 of the reduced and subsequently acetylated oil was 190,4, that is to say considerably 

 in excess of that of the original oil. The reduced oil, owing to the formation of 

 7-menthol from the pulegone and the menthone, was lasvorotatory (« D — 18°). 



We ourselves have found the oil of Calamintha Nepeta to possess the following 

 constants: d 15 o 0,9271 to 0,9395, « D -^2°50' to + 6° 49', n D20 o 1,48441 to 1,48920, ester 

 v. 5,4 to 14,6. Pulegone content 45 p. c. (one estimation only)"). 



Roure-Bertrand Fils give the following synonyms for Calamintha Nepeta, Link et 

 Hoffm.: C. parvifiora, Lamk., C. trichotoma, Moench, Melissa Nepeta, L., M. cretiea. All., 

 and Thymus Nepeta. Sm. 



Calamus Oil. A change has made itself felt in the position of this article, inas- 

 much as it has been extremely difficult during the last few months to procure calamus 

 root of good quality, and for the few parcels which have been placed upon the market 

 high prices were demanded. For this reason we have been compelled to advance our 

 quotations, and we shall be unable to make offers for contracts of any importance 

 until the future of the market has become somewhat clearer and until it is again pos- 

 sible to secure considerable supplies of distilling material. 



!) Perfum. and Essent Oil Record 3 (1912), 243. — 2 ) Berichte von Roure-Bertrand Fils. October 1912, 73. 

 5 ) Report October 1906, 14; October 1911, 24; also comp. Report October 1902, 51; April 1903, 50. 



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