SCIENTIFIC NOTES ON ESSENTIAL OILS. A5 
On page 98 of our Report April 1913 we discussed a paper by E. Sieburg on the 
effect of turpentine oil in phosphorus poisoning. Later Sieburg*) attempted to decide 
whether turpentine oil acts as an antidote in phosphorus poisoning, if the phosphorus 
has already been assimilated. In order to test the supposition that the formation of 
pinol hypophosphorous acid was the cause of the antidotal effect of turpentine oil, 
Sieburg made a subcutaneous injection of a fatal dose of phosphorus, in a 0,5 p.c. 
olive oil solution, in experimental animals; at the same time he tried to neutralize 
the action of the poison by subcutaneous application of pinene, i.e. pinene containing 
peroxide changed by exposure to the air. No appreciable effect was noticeable, not 
even when the animals were exposed to an oxygenated atmosphere. Even in vitro, 
when mixing phosphorus with a paste of animal organs and turpentine oil at 40°, 
it could not be observed that turpentine oil possessed the capacity of combining with 
phosphorus. It follows that the animal system possesses a greater affinity for phosphorus 
than the terpcnes. 
A. W. Schorger*) reports on the examination of samples of authentic American 
turpentine oils. He collected the samples himself in the producing districts, and made 
careful notes as to the time when the turpentine was obtained, on which day the 
tree had been tapped and from which district the oil originated. The physical data 
of all the oils were determined and the boiling behaviour examined. The voluminous 
material of figures was collected in the form of tables and graphic plates. Generally 
speaking turpentine oils from “scrape” (scraped-off resin) are specifically heavier than 
the oils derived from “dip”; oils obtained in spring are heavier than those produced 
in autumn; furthermore oils derived from the “box” system are heavier than those 
derived from the “cup and gutter” system, &c. The differences are, however, insignificant. 
If turpentine oil be suitably stored, its physical properties are not affected within a 
year, or hardly so. The average values were found to be: dis0 0,86085; np,;0 1,4730; the 
oil should begin to boil at about 156°. 
Turpentine oil from Pinus Jeffreyi. According to an investigation by Schorger’) 
on the oleoresins of the Jeffrey and the singleleaf pine, the volatile oil from Pinus 
Jeffreyi, A. Murr. consists of about 95 p.c. of n-heptane and 5 p.c. of an aldehyde 
which he believes to be citronellal. 
As we were able to obtain a quantity of oleoresin of Pinus Jeffreyi through our 
New York branch, last summer, we had an opportunity of studying the volatile oil of 
this resin, and of investigating as to whether the aldehyde is really identical with 
citronellal. 
The constants of the oil, obtained from the resin by steam distillation, were as 
follows: dis0 0,7051; 4) —0°10’; np» 1,39653; acid v. 0; ester v. 5,2; ester v. after 
acetylation 8,7; soluble in 5,5 volumes and more of 90 p.c. alcohol. The resin yielded 
9,4 p.c. of oil. 
The oil was colourless, of a pleasant odour reminding of orange oil, and by far 
the largest part distilled under ordinary pressure from 96 to 100°. As was also found 
by Schorger, this fraction consists almost exclusively of heptane. 
From the higher-boiling parts of the oil, after repeated distillation, some fractions 
were separated which smelled distinctly like decylic aldehyde and which soon solidified 
when shaken with sodium bisulphite liquor. The aldehyde obtained from the double- 
1) Arch. internat. de Pharm. et de Thér. 14, 123; Chem. Zentralbl. 1914, II. 65. — 2%) Journ. Ind. Eng. 
Chemistry 6 (1914), 541. — 7) Ibidem 5 (1913), 971; Report April 1914, 96. 
