n \n oil f from - same erininicnt faken from a container which fad not been opened 
2 showed the following properties in April 1916: d 0.892; citral value 68 per cent. 
vo ecectes of cochin oil showed the following alterations after storage: — 
October 1912 April 1913 April 1916 April 1916 
; : NO J N° II j 
Bees 5 7 0.898 0.899 0.925 0.923 
citral . . . 78percent. 74 percent. 64 percent. 60 percent. 
_ At an earlier date J.C. Umney and S.W. Bunker') had observed that the citral 
content of a “wet” lemongrass oil had dropped from 79 to 68 per cent. already after — 
three months, whereas a second sample which had been carefully “dried”, other con- 
‘ditions being equal, showed a considerably smaller decrease, viz., from 79 to 74 per cent. 
‘The conclusion is that lemongrass oil should not only be protected from light and air, 
but should also be in a perfectly “dry” condition before being stored. 
Oil of Libocedrus decurrens’). The volatile oil contained in the needles, twigs 
and bark of the Californian conifer Libocedrus decurrens, Torrey (incense cedar) has 
been examined by A. W. Schorger*). In order to determine the influence of storage 
on the yield of oil fresh needles were distilled, as well as needles which had been 
kept in the open air for some weeks. The yield from fresh needles was from 0.206 
to 0.226 per cent., from stored needles from 0.240 to 0.267 per cent. (calculated on the 
eight of the fresh material). It was also found that the needles are richer in-.oil 
during the months of May and November than in June and October, while the total 
‘borneol content was greatest during August and September. Trees grown in open 
spaces furnished a material richer in oil than those surrounded by other timber. — 
_ In order to determine the properties of the oil at different stages of the distillation, 
the distillate from one run of ten hours’ duration was collected in four fractions. 
2 About 89 per cent. of the oil passed over during the first four hours, the oil RAL 
' normal properties, the remainder showing abnormal constants. 
_ With oif from twigs and needles, obtained to the extent of 0.166 to 0.300 per cent., 
-Schorger established the following figures: d1i50 0.8665 to 0.8739; @p20-—3.20 to + 38.6829; 
‘Mp0 1.4754 to 1.4775; acid v. 0.48 to 1.30; ester v. 18.49 to 24.27: after acet. 28.604 to 
39.83. The majority of the oils were pale, greenish yellow in colour, though some 
samples were dark greenish brown. 
In an aqueous extract of the first fraction furfural was detected by means of the 
‘colour reaction with aniline and hydrochloric acid. The oil contained 12 to 16 per cent. 
‘/-«pinene (characterized by the nitrolpiperidine, m.p. 117 to 118°), d-sylvestrene (dihydro- 
chloride, m. p. 72 to 72.5°), d-limonene (tetrabromide, m.p. 113°) and dipentene (tetra- 
bromide, m. p. 124 to 124.5°). The total sylvestrene, limonene, and dipentene content 
amounted to 54 to 58 per cent. The oil also contained 8 per cent, bornyl acetate, deter- 
mined by saponification to borneol (oxidation to camphor) and acetic acid (analysis of 
‘the silver salt), as well as 4 per cent. of free borneol. In the highest-boiling portions of 
‘the oil 6 to 7 per cent. of a sesquiterpene was found which the author failed to identify 
with any of the known sesquiterpenes. He called it tentatively: libocedrene. B.p. 260 — 
to 280°; deo 0.9292; ap + 6.49; Np» 1.4994. The hydrochloride melts at 132 to 133°. 
* From the bark of Lubocedrus decurrens 0.14 per cent. of a faint greenish yellow oil 
were obtained: dy500,8621; apyo+1.10°; mp0 1.4716; acid. v. 0.60; ester v. 3.22; 
i 1) Perfum. Record 4 (1913), 38. — *) See Report April 1915, 52. — *) Journ. Ind. Eng. Chem. 8 (1916), 22. 
g 3* 
~ 
= he 
* 
