36 Report of Schimmel 8j Co. 1921. 



of Highfield, East Liss, Hants, and in the Bagley Forest, near Oxford, where they have 

 been yielding large bulks of timber in the short time, of 50 to 60 years. The Colorado 

 Douglas fir is smaller and less useful as timber. 



Apart from these two species Henry and Flood distinguish and characterise five 

 other Douglas firs by the different textures of their leaves. The leaf of the Colorado 

 fir, e. g., showed the peculiar xerophytic features and was therefore adaptable to the 

 dry continental climate of the Rocky Mountains. The odour of the needles (leaves) 

 changes with the variety of the tree; whilst the Oregon tree has the pleasant smell 

 of fir cones, the Colorado species has a rather sharp odour reminding of turpentine. 



C. T. Bennett examined the leaf oils of the two species with the following results: — 



(1) Leaf oil of Pseudotsuga Douglasii, Carriere, 50. lbs. of leaves of young trees from 

 Avondale, England, gave in distillation less than 0.01 per cent, of a highly-aromatic 

 essential oil which was not further studied. From older trees growing in Buckhold, 

 Berks, England, 0.11 per cent, of an oil was prepared of the following properties: — 

 d0.876; « D — 7°; n D 1.4835; ester (calculated as bornyl acetate) 12.4 per cent. The ester 

 content was smaller than in the case of the Colorado oil, the odour was more fragrant. 

 The oil contained dipentene and limonene; pinene was, if at all, present only in very 

 small quantities since practically nothing distilled below 175°; of citral only traces 

 were likewise present. The main constituent of the oil seems to be geraniol which 

 was isolated by fractionation. Calculated as geraniol, the total alcohol contents 

 amounted to 31.5 per cent. We should emphasise that geraniol had so far only been 

 found in Australian callitris, but not in other oils of coniferae 1 ). 



(2) Leaf oil of Pseudotsuga glauca, Mayr. The leaves of medium-size trees from 

 East Liss, Hants, England, yielded in distillation 0.31 per cent, of an essential oil with 

 the following constants: — d 0.905; « D — 46°; n D20 o 14717; ester, calculated as bornyl 

 acetate, 34.5 per cent. The terpenes consisted essentially of pinene. 



Two investigations, by Brandel 2 ) and Sweet and by Schorger 3 ), had so far been 

 published on Douglas fir leaf oils. When we compare their results with the researches 

 of Bennett, we find that Brandel and Sweet were dealing with an oil of Pseudotsuga 

 Douglasii, Carriere, and Schorger with a product resembling Colorado oil. 



In this connection it should be mentioned that a striking analogy exists, as to 

 the distribution and size of the fir cones and the different constitution of the oils, 

 between the Douglas firs and the different species of "the yellow pines" of North West 

 America. Thus the oil of turpentine from Pinus ponder osa, Laws. 4 ), and P. ponder osa var. 

 caesia, which grow in the same districts as the Oregon Douglas fir and have medium- 

 size fircones, contains essentially /?-pinene; Pinus ponder osa var. scopulorum, Engelm. 4 ), 

 on the other hand, with small fir cones, and like the Pinus glauca,, a native of the 

 Rocky Mountains, gives an oil of turpentine consisting essentially of a-pinene. Finally 

 from Pinus Jejffreyi. Murray, a tree characterised by very large cones and growing like 

 Pseudotsuga macrocarpa in Southern California, we obtained an oil of turpentine containing 

 95 per cent, of heptane. 



The Oil of the Needles of Pinus montana. Mill. ("Latschenkieferol") (taken internally, 

 2 to 4 times daily, three drops, together with tincture of cinnamon, ether or the yolk of 

 egg with brandy and sugar water) has been applied by M.Mayer 5 ) with success in purulent 

 and inflammatory troubles, especially with empyema after resection and with appendicitis. 



!) Cf. Gildemeister and Hoffmann, The Volatile Oils, 2 nd ed., vol. II, p. 146. — ■) Cf. Report April 

 1909, 43. — 3 ) Report April 1914, 83. — *) Cf. Report April 1913, 101. — B ) Munch, med. Wochenschr. 

 1920, 572. After Therap. Halbmonatsh. 34 (1920), 422. 



