88 
E. M. Watson. 
All the Eastern Australian species of Prost anther a are oil bearing but 
none of the Western Australian species has been investigated. Maiden 
(22) mentions that Ocimum sanctum L. occurs in two varieties, the Northern 
Australian variety having an odour of anise and the Eastern variety that of 
cloves. 
Famua Coni ferae. 
As in the rest of Australia, the chief Western Australian genus of this 
family is Callitris , Of our seven species, only one (C. Boei (Ejndl.')f h\ 
Mu ell.) has not been examined at all. Baker and Smith (24) have exam- 
ined the leaf oils and in some cases the fruit oils of ('. DrummOndii (Parlat.) 
F. Mu-ell. , C. glauca (R.Br.) Mirb. C. intratropica (F. Muell.) R. T. Baker, 
r. robusta (R.Br.) Mirb. and C. verrucosa (R.Br.) Mirb. Finlayson (25) 
has also examined the fruit oil of C. verrucosa and Murray (16) has exam- 
ined the leaf oil of C. Morrisoni R. T. Baker. The oils consist largely of the 
terp-enes pinene, d- and Z-limonene and dipentene, together with small 
amounts of alcohols such ?is geraniol and borneol and their enters with 
acetic and occasionally butyric acid. The wood of these species is resistant 
to termite 1 attack and the chemistry of the wood oils warrants further inves- 
tigation. Baker and Smith showed the presence of the sesquiterpene 
alcohol guaiol in the wood of most species, particularly C. intratropica and 
Trikojus and White have discussed the chemistry of the constituents of the 
wood oi's (26) and the chemistry of guaiol (27). 
The only other coniferous genera in Western Australia are Podocarpus 
and Actinostrobus. Baker and Smith (21) distilled the leaves of P. 
Drougniana F. Muell. without obtaining any oil but from the leaves of A. 
pyram ; dalis Miq. they obtained a small yield of oil which consisted mainly 
of cZ- pinene with a small amount of esters. The remaining species of 
Actinostrobus have not been examined, but it is of interest to note that the 
oleo-vedn secreted at the base of the columella of A. glaums 0. A. Gardn. 
MS is used on account of its healing properties. 
Other Families. 
Man* (28) has shown that Stirling ia- latifolia (R.Br A Steud. (Pro- 
teaceae) produces an oil which consists almost entirely of acetophenone. 
Oil of chenopodium is well known for its use as an anthelmintic and Shapter 
(29) has shown that distillation of Chenopodium ambrosioides L. var. an- 
th$lminticum (L.) A. Gray (Chenopodiaceae) growing in Victoria and New 
South Wales gives an oil of satisfactory ascaridole content. Local distil- 
lation of the plant, however, failed to give a satisfactory yield on one large 
scale run. Alyxia buxifolia R.Br. (Apocynaceae) is well known to bush- 
men as a cure for dysentery; the sending of a specimen of its oil to America 
some years ago resulted in a request for several pounds of the mateiial, 
but no information is available as to its chemical nature. A preliminary 
empirical examination of the wood oil of Myoporum serratum R, Br. 
(Myoporaceae) has been published by Hill (30). The volatile oil from 
M. deserti A. Cunn. ex Benth. has been shown by Albert (31) to contain a 
large percentage of an unidentified ketone. The introduced Foeniculum 
vulgar e Mill. (Umbelliferae) grows abundantly in parts of the metropolitan 
area but, although its oil has been thoroughly examined in other parts of 
the world, no analysis has been made of the local fruit oil. Finally mention 
