122 Report of Schimmel $ Go. April 1913. 



Notes on Scientific Research in the Domain of the 



Essential Oils. 



General. 



From the Mitteilungen zur Geschichte der Medizin und Naturivissenschaften 1 ) we gather 

 that in the papers left behind by the Swedish chemist, the late L. F. Svanberg, two 

 hitherto unpublished letters from Fr. Wohler to Berzelius have been discovered. The 

 letters, which were written in the year 1848, contain, in addition to vivid descriptions 

 of those times of political unrest, a few interesting scientific data concerning research 

 in which Wohler was engaged at that time. The first of the letters, which is dated 

 March 8 th 1848, contains the following passage: — 



"I will also send thee shortly a dissertation on so-called turpentine-camphor; 

 a truly beautiful work, which has been carried out in my laboratory by Herr List. 

 In this investigation a really remarkable example of catalysis was shown. When 

 turpentine-camphor C 20 H 20 O 4 is warmed up with any acid it is converted into 

 a volatile oil, with a perfect aroma of hyacinths, which is C 20 H 17 O. It appears 

 that one single drop of acid is capable of converting endless masses of camphor." 

 [Ebenso werde ich Dir in Kurzem eine Dissertation iiber den sogenannten 

 Terpentincampher schicken, eine recht schone Arbeit, die Hr. List in meinem 

 Laborat. ausgeftihrt hat. Es hat sich dabei ein recht merkwiirdiges Beispiel von 

 Katalyse gezeigt. Wird namlich der Terpentincampher C 20 H 20 O 4 mit irgend einer 

 Saure erwarmt, so verwandelt er sich in ein vollkommen wie Hyacinthen 

 riechendes fltichtiges 01, welches C 20 H 17 O ist. Ein einziger Tropfen Saure scheint 

 unendliche Mengen Campher verwandeln zu konnen.] 

 The research to which Wohler here alludes is the familiar investigation "on so- 

 called turpentine oil hydrate", which was published by C. List in Liebigs Annalen 2 ) in 

 that same year. The essential oil which List obtained from terpin by heating with 

 dilute sulphuric acid, to which he gave the name of terpinol was, as we now know 3 ), 

 a mixture of terpenes and oxygenous constituents. Both scientists thought that their 

 preparations gave off an odour of hyacinth, a belief which is probably due to the 

 lilac-like odour of terpineol. 



There has recently been published the concluding part of the late W. Mitlacher's 4 ) 

 work on experiments in the cultivation of medicinal plants, to which we referred on 

 p. 128 of our last Report. 



An article which has appeared in the Perfumery and Essential Oil Record, vol. 3 

 (1912), 242, refers to the experiments in the cultivation of odoriferous plants which 

 have been made at Donolly (Victoria) 5 ). A geranium oil distilled in this district possessed 

 the following characters: di 5 o 0,906; « D — 14,25°, so-called total geraniol 51,8 p. c. 

 Distillation on a large scale has never yet been attempted at Donolly. 



*) 12 (1913), 137. — 2 ) Liebigs Annalen 67 (1848), 362. — 3 ) Wallach, Liebigs Annalen 230 (1888), 251. — 

 *) Zeitschr. d. allg. bsterr. Apoth. Ver. 50 (1912), 421, 434, 447, 459. — 5 ) Comp. Report October 1912, 119. 



