— 37 — 
for the greater part still of cuminic aldehyde. By once more distilling 
the portions passing over at 39° to 76^ and 76° to 80° (5 mm 
pressure), we obtained the following fractions: 
I. 35° to 65° (5 mm pressure) 
II. 65° „ 70° (5 „ „ ) 
HI. 70° „ 80° (5 „ „ ). 
Fraction I had a pronounced yellow colour and possessed a 
peculiar odour, which, however, did not in the least remind of cuminic 
aldehyde. The constants were as follows: d = 0,9057; ajy = + 
(20 mm); boiling point 175° to 205°; quantity 5 to 6 grams. No 
solid derivative was obtained from the oil. 
Fraction II boiled chiefly at 200° to 212°, but yielded no well- 
characterised oxime or semicarbazone. The quantity amounted to 
about 8 grams. The optical rotation was the reverse of that of 
aromadendral, viz: = -j- 0° 56'; d = 0,9341. The odour was 
like that of the first fraction. 
Fraction III distilled between 210° and 232°, and (as was shewn 
by the semicarbazone produced from it) consisted chiefly of cuminic 
aldehyde: d = 0,9533; — 36'. The aldehyde which occurs 
in addition to cuminic aldehyde, cannot, according to the above- 
mentioned properties, be identic with Smith's aromadendral. We be- 
lieve that it represents possibly a higher fatty aldehyde, or a mixture 
of two such aldehydes. 
From J. H. Maiden, the well-known and distinguished in- 
vestigator of the Australian Flora, there have again appeared several 
treatises, and also the first part of the larger work on the Eucalypts. 
In the first paper ^), in which the question is raised whether the 
species of the Eucalyptus family are variable, he mentions in the first 
place the different characteristics and organs which have served the 
individual botanists for the. subdivision of Eucalypts. Contrary to 
Baker and Smith, who are of opinion that the species have now 
been irrevocably determined. Maiden comes to the conclusion that this 
is by no means the case, but that the variation still continues. As 
an example he mentions the Eucalyptus designated as "gum-topped 
stringy bark of Tasmania", which has been described under eleven 
different names. Manna, kino, and also the essential oil, are, accord- 
ing to Maiden no fundamental, but accessory and adapted charac- 
teristics, and should not be used by themselves, but only as aids in 
the diagnosis. The botanical classification for the purpose of the 
nomenclature of the genera, species, and varieties, should rather be 
■"■) Is Eucalyptus variable? Journ. and Proceed, of the Royal Society of 
N. S. Wales 36 (1902), 315. 
