108 Report of Schimmel $ Co. April 1913. 



of myrosine in cauliflower-seed. The addition of ground cauliflower seed liberates allyl 

 «'sosulphocyanate from the meal of black mustard in which the myrosine had previously 

 been destroyed. The action of this allyl enzyme however, is very faint. 



Wintergreen Oil, American. The market in the ordinary commercial product 

 prepared from Betula lenta is entirely unchanged, business being regular, and from 

 New York we hear that there is no alteration in prospect. Oil from Gaultheria pro- 

 cumbens, of which we keep no stock here, has also been distilled in sufficient quantities. 

 The present price of the last-named variety is $ 4.50, or say 18 s. 9 d. per lb., a fact 

 to which we only refer as a matter of curiosity. 



According to H. D. Gibbs, R. R. Williams and D. S. Pratt 1 ) the yellow colour acquired 

 by methyl salicylate when exposed to sunlight is due to a form of oxidation. It is 

 not impossible that the yellow substance consists in the main of the methyl ester of 

 />-quinone carboxylic acid. The yellow colour also develops in the dark in the presence 

 of oxidising agents such as ozone, hydrogen peroxide, chromic acid, 8{C. 



Wormseed Oil, American. After the arrival in Europe of the cheaper oil of 

 last year's crop, the prices could gradually be reduced. This reduction came very 

 opportunely, especially because orders of considerable importance had been placed 

 by pharmaceutical manufacturers. The efficacy of this anthelmintic is so generally 

 admitted that we feel justified in forecasting a favourable future for American 

 wormseed oil. 



E.K.Nelson-) has continued his investigations into ascaridole, the principal con- 

 stituent of American wormseed oil 3 ). He stirred the oily conversion-product which is 

 formed when ascaridole is heated to about 150 04 ), for 2 hours with 0,2 p. c. sulphuric 

 acid, the oil being almost completely dissolved by this manipulation. By shaking the 

 reaction-mass with ether, Nelson isolated from it the glycol, m. p. 62,5 to 64° 2 ), which 

 has already been described previously. He next shook out the exactly neutralised 

 reaction-liquid with chloroform, thereby isolating a body Ci Hi 8 O 3 , which melts in the 

 anhydrous state at 103 to 105° and which readily crystallises with one molecule of 

 water. This compound Nelson calls /^-glycol in order to distinguish it from the «-glycol, 

 m. p. 62,5 to 64°, which is referred to above. When heated with dilute sulphuric acid 

 it yields thymol (m. p. of the phenylurethane 103 to 104°). The neutral reaction-mass, 

 after having been shaken out with chloroform, was evaporated and the residue extracted 

 with anhydrous alcohol. By this method, Nelson obtained an erythritol CioH 2 o0 4 which, 

 when recrystallised from chloroform, had m. p. 128 to 130° and which crystallises 

 readily with one molecule of water. When boiled with dilute sulphuric acid it yields 

 a ketone with an odour of menthone (semicarbazone m. p. 182 to 184°) and a phenol- 

 like body with m. p. 80 to 81°. Nelson explains the formation of the erythritol, (accep- 

 ting Wallach's ascaridole-formula) 5 ) as follows: Ascaridole (I), during heating is trans- 

 posed into the body shown in formula II, from which latter it is converted by hydration 

 into the erythritol m. p. 80 to 81°, probably 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroxyterpane (III). If the 

 erythritol really possesses this structure it must be capable of being oxidised into 



!) Philippine Journ. of Sc. 7 (1912), A. 79. — 2 ) Journ. Americ. Chem. Soc. 35 (1913), 84. — 77. S. Dep. of 

 Agriculture, Bureau of Chemistry, Circ. No. 109. — 3 ) Comp. Report October 1911, 98; October 1912, 113. — 

 *) Report April 1908, 114. — Journ. Americ. Chem. Soc. 33 (1911), 1404. — 6 ) Comp. Report October 1912, 115. 



