112 



Schinus Oil. Roure-Bertrand Fils, in their last April report 1 ), 

 give detailed particulars of Schinus molle L., and of the oils obtained 

 from it. The tree, which is also known, from its native place and 

 its fruit, as "American pepper", belongs to the Terebinthaceae, a sub- 

 family of the Anacardiaceae. Of the oils described in the report, two 

 came from Algeria, one of these being distilled from leaves only, the 

 other from the branches, with the leaves and fruit. A third oil, of 

 French origin, was distilled at Grasse from entire branches. The table 

 below gives the constants of these oils, together with those previously 

 obtained by us 2 ) from Mexican oils. The difference lies chiefly in 

 the greater lightness and the more sparing solubility of the Mexican 

 as compared with the Mediterranean oils. The optical rotation differs 

 according to the source of origin, but, singularly enough, the diver- 

 gencies between the properties of the oils obtained from the different 

 parts of the plant are less pronounced. The oil-yield from the berries 

 only, however, was larger than that from the brenches and leaves. 



French oils 



from Grasse 



entire 



branches 



leaves 



Mexican oils 



fruit 



undeter- 

 mined 



diso 



«D 



nD20° 



acid no 



ester no 



ester no. after acet. 



solub. in 90 per 

 cent, alcohol . 



0,8634 

 + 50° 54 



5.5 

 29,4 



5 vol. 



0,8658 

 + 65°2o' 



o,7 

 40,4 

 5 vol. 



0,8696 

 + 46°i3' 



2,1 



8,2 



43,4 



10 vol. 



with 



turbidity 



0,8583 



+ 44° 5o' 



1,47665 



7,2 



.0,8600 



+ 42°30' 



1,47909 



0,8492 



+ 5°°27' 



1,47616 



25,2 

 56,5 



Even with absolute alcohol the solu- 

 tion , at first clear, becomes turbid 

 when more alcohol is added. 



Oil of Sium cicutsefolium. From the green herb of Stum 

 cicutoefolium Gmel. (Umbelliferae), a native of South Dakota, F. Rabak 3 ) 

 obtained 0,5 °/ of essential oil, of a pale yellow colour and a pro- 

 nounced odour of caraway, at the same time reminding of turpentine. 

 The oil gave a cloudy solution with 6 parts of 90 per cent, alcohol; 

 d 2 2° 0,8447; «d -[- 63 40'; acid no. o; ester no. 33, corresponding 

 to 11,55% °f ester C 10 H 17 OCOCH 3 . Compared with the original 

 oil, the acetylated sample showed no increase in the ester number; 

 free alcohols are therefore not present. Its pronounced rotation to 

 the right indicated the presence of d-limonene. A reaction for 

 aldehydes was obtained both with magenta solution and with nitrate 

 of silver. 



*) Berichte of Roure-Bertrand Fils, April 1909, 36. 



2 ) Report April 1908, 121; April 1909, 83. 



3 ) The Midland Drugg. and Pharm. Review 43 (1909), 5. 





