- 67 - 
Rosemary Oil, French. The final result of the distillation in 
the South of France has fallen below the most modest expectations. 
The acquisition of larger parcels of pure oil is a matter of the greatest 
difficult V. 
Oil of Rue. From the work of Mannich^) on the ketones of 
oil of rue, which has been published again in connected form, we 
make some abstracts as an addition to what we mentioned on the 
subject in our last Report 2). The ketone C22H42O, obtained from 
methyl nonyl ketone in a manner analogous to the condensation of 
acetone with hydrochloric acid gas, can again be converted into the 
original ketone by means of 60 per cent, sulphuric acid. The picrate 
of its amido-guanidine compound melts at 125° to 126°. The methyl 
heptyl ketone is capable of analogous condensation. The ketone Hg^O 
thereby formed, boils at 184° to 187° (14 mm), its amido-guanidine 
derivative has the melting point 130° to 131°. 
A German oil of rue recently examined by J. Houben^) had the 
melting point 9.3^, and showed a striking blue fluorescence, which 
was caused by a compound which could be abstracted from the oil 
by shaking with dilute sulphuric acid. Owing to the smallness of the 
quantity of oil w^hich w^as obtained from the sulphate solution on neu- 
tralising the latter, the author was unable to make a further exam- 
ination of the compound. In this connection w^e would point out 
that the same body was discovered by us already some time ago in 
German oil of rue, and that, according to our observations, it may 
most probably be identic with methyl ester of methyl anthranilic acid. 
We would refer to our communication in the October Report of 1901, 
page 46. 
In addition to a small quantity of an acid distilling at 236° to 238°, 
which was probably caprylic acid, and another small quantity of a 
phenol-like body of the melting point 156^, Houben isolated from 
500 grams oil 355 grams methyl nonyl ketone and 12 grams methyl 
heptyl ketone. According to his statements, the latter boils, contrary 
to what Thoms has stated^), at 194° to 196° (80° to 82° at 15 mm). 
The boiling point of methyl nonyl ketone was found at 228° to 230°, 
at 18 mm pressure at 118^. Thoms gives it as 223° to 224^, 
V. Soden^) and Henle as 230° to 231°. Methyl nonyl ketone has 
the following constants: specific gravity 0,8295; solidifying point -[-13°. 
^) Berichte der deutsch. pharm. Ges. 12 (1902), 267. 
^) October 1902, 76. 
^) Berliner Berichte 35 (1902), 3587. 
^) Report April 1901, 52. 
5) Report October 1901, 47. 
5* 
