150 
DR. JOHN S'fENHOUSE ON VEGETABLE PRODUCTS FROM INDIA. 
mixture of a liquid hydrocarbon and of a less volatile oxygenated stearopten, I pro- 
ceeded to separate these compounds. 
The Hydrocarhon . — The more volatile portion of the oil was redistilled, that 
part of it which boiled at 176° C. being separately collected. After having been 
dried with chloride of calcium, it was distilled over caustic potash. It was then 
repeatedly treated with sodium, and again cautiously rectified. The hydrocarbon 
thus obtained was perfectly colourless, refracted light strongly, and had a pungent, 
aromatic odour, quite dissimilar, however, from that of oil of thyme. Its boiling- 
point was found to be 172° C., a thermometer being placed in the vapour, and its 
specific gravity 0'854 at 12° C. The following analyses show that it is isomeric with 
oil of turpentine. 
I. 0T280 grrn. gave 0'4145 grm. carbonic acid and 0*1335 grm. water. 
II. 0*1765 grm. gave 0*5705 grm. carbonic acid and 0*1825 grm. water. 
Required. Found. 
r , ^ . 
I. II. 
C,o = 60 88.23 88*31 88*15 
Hg = 8 11*77 11*59 11*49 
Wlien the oil was treated with hydrochloric acid no crystalline compound was 
obtained, but a brown mobile liquid, having an agreeable smell similar to the oil 
itself. 
The Stearopten . — I have already mentioned that the portion remaining in the retort 
from the distillation of the crude oil, solidified on cooling into a crystalline mass. 
When cautiously rectified it began to boil at 218° C., the thermometer, towards the 
latter part of the distillation, rising to 225° C., and even higher. The greater por- 
tion, however, came over at about 222° C. The first portion which came over was 
quite colourless, and had a mild aromatic smell, but the subsequent portions had a 
more pungent odour, and a yellowish colour. The more volatile and by far the 
larger portion of the distillate crystallized on cooling, especially when agitated, the 
crystals assuming a rhombohedral form. When it was kept quite quiet, however, it 
remained liquid for several days, but on being plunged into a freezing mixture it 
immediately solidified. The less volatile and more coloured portion of the distillate 
could not be made to crystallize, even when kept in a mixture of snow and salt. 
The form of the crystals, obtained by the solidification of the distilled stearopten, 
appeared at first sight to differ from that of the stearopten from India given me by 
Dr. Stocks ; but, upon these crystals being dissolved in the hydrocarbon of the oil, 
they were obtained in forms precisely similar to those of the Indian stearopten. 
This was also the case when either the crude or the distilled crystals were deposited 
from their solutions in alcohol or ether. 
Through the kindness of Professor Miller of Cambridge, I am enabled to submit 
the following very accurate description and measurements of these crystals. 
