Scientific and other notes on essential oils. 75 



oxide and calcium chloride. The oil has the specific gravity of 0.878 to 0.880 and 

 boils between 150 and 310°. After prolonged standing the oil deposits a reddish-brown 

 substance containing sulphur, which is insoluble in cymene, ether, and water, but 

 soluble in alcohol. The combustion analysis which Kertesz made of it lead to results 

 which fairly agree with the formula C30H45O7S. Probably this compound is formed 

 by the polymerisation of aliphatic terpenes of less complex composition, the sulphur 

 of course originates from the sulphur dioxide. About 80 per cent, of the crude oil 

 consists of jp-cymene which was identified by oxidizing it into isopropylbenzoic and 

 terephthalic acids. The oil further contains a sesquiterpene boiling between 136 and 

 138° (9 mm.) which gives, on addition of acetic anhydride and concentrated sulphuric 

 acid, an intense dark blue colouring and absorbs 2 atoms of bromine. Hitherto attempts 

 to obtain a solid derivate of the sesquiterpene have not been successful. It is a light 

 yellow, quite transparent oil, having a very slight smell, and dissolves in 4 vols, of 

 96 per cent, alcohol; on the whole it reminds rather of atractylene. 



Besides this, the oil also contains a diterpene which turns to a dark red colour 

 on adding acetic anhydride and concentrated sulphuric acid. It is a viscous, orange- 

 coloured, transparent oil with a pleasant smell, from which, however, it has not yet 

 been possible to isolate a crystalline compound. 



From the crude product, cymene can be eliminated most easily by the aid of 

 steam distillation, whereas the sesquiterpene and especially the diterpene are much 

 more difficult to separate. One vol. of water condensed itself with 1 vol. of distilled 

 cymene, whereas in the case of sesquiterpene it was a matter of 10 vols, and in the 

 case of diterpene, of 100 vols, of water. 



The highest-boiling portions of the oil contain a white amorphous substance, 

 insoluble in alcohol, and melting at 67°, probably a polyterpene. 



The presence of cymene in the oil can be explained by the action of the sulphurous 

 acid on the pinene of the wood; doubtless also the diterpene and polyterpene are the 

 products of the reaction between sulphurous acid and pinene. 



The production of pine oil in the occupied Russian territory. O. Lange 1 ) has published 

 a paper bearing this title, in which he describes in an instructive manner the primitive 

 methods for collecting pine oil in the extensive Russian forests. 



One often sees on the border or in the glades of the interminable Russian forests 

 which offer to the forester in their black pine and ordinary pine stocks a picture of 

 incredible neglect, strange cones of earth, leaning against miserable huts, which, while 

 far surpassing the height of the roofs, terminate in a blunt point, bust down sideways 2 ). 

 On approaching closer, one is inclined to believe one has arrived at an immense 

 alchemistic laboratory, erected in. the open air, as one sees subterranean heating 

 apertures, glowing red-hot, and high up in the air great pipe-lines, protected in a 

 primitive fashion, troughs which serve as coolers, in which long worm-pipes lie built 

 in, receiving their water from the nearest rivulet. Close at hand one further observes 

 piles of rough root-stocks and of wood, singed to a reddish-brown colour, casks, filled 

 with black or golden -yellow liquids, skinned carcases of horses which have been 

 transported a long distance, close to which is visible the disengaged fat of the 

 horseflesh, neatly collected on a flat stone, finally rough sheds which serve as a pro- 

 tection for a few vats of liquor. All this is pervaded by a vinegar-like, tarry smell, 

 and incredible dirt. The earth cones form the heat- protecting jackets for a large 



>) Deutsche Parf.-Ztg. 2 (1916), 256. — 2 ) Comp. H. Schelenz, Zeitschr. f. angetc. Chem. 29 (1916), I. 251; 

 Report October 1916, 55. 



