304 
New  Essential  Oils. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1910. 
termed  by  the  retail  trade  simply  Cassia.  The  leaves  of  the  tree 
are  still  used  medicinally  in  the  East  Indies;  in  former  years  they 
were  also  met  with  in  commerce  (the  narrow  Folia  Malabathri) 
but  they  are  now  obsolete.  The  leaves  contain  an  essential  oil  of 
which  we  recently  received  a  sample,  which  had  been  distilled  by 
Mr.  I.  H.  Burkill,  of  Calcutta.  The  oil  was  of  a  lemon-yellow 
colour,  and  had  a  clovelike,  at  the  same  time  slightly  peppery,  odour. 
It  possessed  the  following  constants:  dI5°  1,0257,  aD  -f-  160  37',  nD2o° 
1,52596;  phenol-content  78  per  cent.,  soluble  in  1,2  volumes  and  over 
of  70  per  cent,  alcohol.  The  phenols  consisted  of  eugenol  (m.  p. 
of  the  benzoyl  compound  690).  When  freed  from  phenols,  the  oil 
had  the  high  optical  rotation  aD  -\-  66°  40'  and  yielded  a  solid  nitrite 
which,  when  recrystallised  from  ethyl  acetate  melted  at  113  to  1140. 
It  contained  therefore  d-a-phellandrene.  In  respect  of  its  high 
eugenol  content  it  is  closely  allied  to  the  ordinary  oil  from  Ceylon 
cinnamon  leaves. 
Oil  of  Mentha  silvestris. — An  oil  of  Mentha  silvestris  L.,  pre- 
pared in  Cyprus,  was  found  to  possess  the  following  properties : 
di5°  0,9701,  aD  -j-  310  30',  nD2o°'Ji ,49544,  acid  no.  2,4,  ester  no. 
20,9,  ester  no.  after  acetyl.  171,4,  soluble  in  3  vols,  of  70  per  cent, 
alcohol;  (the  diluted  solution  showed  slight  opalescence;)  faintly 
mint-like  odour;  yellow  colour.  It  is  obvious  that  the  saponifica- 
tion number  of  171,4  after  acetylation  of  the  oil  cannot  in  this  case 
be  indicative  of  the  menthol  content,  which,,  judging  by  this  factor, 
should  have  been  54,8  per  cent. ;  for  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  sample 
contained  but  little  menthol.  The  mint-like  odour  was  chiefly  due 
to  the  presence  of  pulegone,  of  which  the  oil  contained  40  per  cent, 
(isolated  with  neutral  sulphite  of  sodium).  In  addition  to  this  a 
phenol  (probably  carvacrol)  could  be  detected,  from  which  it  is  to 
be  supposed  that  this,  also,  would  become  esterified  and  would  help 
to  swell  the  acetylation  value.  Owing  to  the  simultaneous  occur- 
rence in  it  of  menthol,  pulegone  and  a  phenol,  the  oil  cannot  be  used 
either  as  peppermint  oil  or  as  European  pennyroyal  or  origanum 
oil.  It  is  differentiated  from  oil  of  peppermint  by  its  much  higher 
specific  gravity  and  by  its  pronounced  dextrorotatory  power.  We 
received  the  sample  from  the  Imperial  Institute  in  London. 
