ON  THE  OIL  OF  OSMITOPSIS  ASTER1SCOIDES. 
313 
ON  THE  OIL  OF  OSMITOPSIS  ASTEMSCOIDES. 
«  By  E.  Yon  Gorup-Besanez. 
Martins  received  from  Cape  Town  an  oil  denominated  "  essen- 
tial oil  of  Osmites  Bellidiastrum"  accompanied  by  a  specimen 
of  the  plant  from  which  it  had  been  obtained.  This  plant  was 
determined  by  Schnitzlein  to  be  Osmitopsis  aster isc oides  ;  it  be- 
longs to  the  family  of  Senecioid  Qompositee. 
The  oil  is  a  thin  fluid,  yellow,  with  a  tinge  of  green ;  it  feels 
rough  between  the  fingers,  has  a  penetrating  but  not  unpleasant 
odor,  something  like  camphor  and  cajeput-oil,  and  a  burning 
taste,  somewhat  acrid  in  the  throat ;  it  is  neutral.  Its  specific 
gravity  at  62°-15  F.  is  0  931.  It  is  insoluble  in  water,  ether 
and  alcohol ;  iodine  dissolves  in  it  without  explosion ;  concen- 
trated sulphuric  acid  gives  it  a  brown  color  ;  nitric  acid  thickens 
the  oil,  and  produces  a  violent  evolution  of  XO4.  Potassium 
becomes  oxidized  in  it,  with  a  slight-evolution  of  gas.  It  fur- 
nishes no  metallic  speculum  with  an  ammoniacal  solution  of 
silver,  nor  does  it  form  a  crystalline  compound  with  alkaline 
sulphites.    It  is  free  from  sulphur. 
It  began  to  boil  at  350°  F.  ;  the  boiling  point  then  rose  to 
354°  F.,  and  afterwards,  between  370°  and  404°  F.,  a  yellow- 
ish oil  passed  over  ;  at  404°-408Q  F.  a  crystalline  sublimate  was 
formed  in  the  neck  of  the  retort. 
The  oil  which  passed  over  between  354°  and  370°  F.  possessed 
a  much  finer  odor  than  the  original  oil.  A  portion  obtained  by 
rectification,  which  boiled  between  354°  and  3G2°  F.,  was  ana- 
lysed.   Its  spec.  grav.  =0-921. 
The  oil  of  the  Osmitopsis  is  C20  H18  O2,  and  consequently  iso- 
meric with  Borneo  camphor,  cajeput  oil,  &c,  a  relationship 
which  Martius  had  already  suspected.    Analysis  gave : — 
Carbon     .       .       77-36       20  —  120°  77-92 
Hydrogen  .       .       11.53       18        18  11-69 
Oxygen     .       .      1111        2       16  10-39 
London.  Chem.  Gaz.,  from  Ann.  der  CJiem.  und  Pharm. 
