Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1889. 
Notes  on  Essential  Oils. 
371 
the  surface  and  this  lighter  portion  was  identified  as  petroleum.  In  the 
residue  after  distillation  there  was  found  from  19  to  26  per  cent,  of  the  same 
solid  brittle  resin.  On  the  other  hand,  a  brand  bearing  a  red  label  with  the 
words,  "Best  Cassia  Oil,  Ying  Chong,  Macao,  "  has  been  found  to  be  of  good 
quality,  the  loss  on  rectification  being  only  7  per  cent.,  and  the  residue  being 
liquid.    The  rectified  oil  should  have  a  specific  gravity  of  T055  to  1*065. 
Eucalyptol  and  Eucalyptus  Oil. — The  demand  for  pure  crystallized  euca- 
lyptol,  for  medicinal  purpose?,  is  said  to  be  continually  increasing.  Of  the 
Eucalyptus  Globulus  oil  there  seems  to  be  a  probability  of  over  production, 
the  yield  from  upwards  of  3,000,000  trees  in  Algeria  being  now  available, 
besides  the  Californian  oil,  which  is  already  placed  with  difficulty.  The  use 
of  the  ordinary  eucalyptus  oil  as  a  perfume  is  criticized  and  a  passage  is 
quoted  with  approval  from  Piesse's  '  Art  of  Perfumery,'  to  the  effect  that  so 
long  as  perfumery  is  an  art  of  sweet  odors  such  an  oil  cannot  be  described 
as  a  perfume.  More  favorable  mention  is  made  of  oils  distilled  experiment- 
ally from  Eucalyptus  maculata,  var.  citriodor'a,  and  E.  Staigeriana,  as  having  a 
beautiful  melissa  odor ;  from  E.  dealbata,  as  having  a  fine  lemon  and  melissa 
odor ;  and  from  Backhousia  citriodora,  as  having  an  intense  verbena  odor. 
The  cost  of  the  materials  is,  however,  too  great  to  allow  of  these  oils  being 
produced  as  commercial  articles.  Another  oil,  of  which  samples  have  been 
received  recently  from  Adelaide,  South  Australia,  is  described  as  having 
been  distilled  from  the  leaves  of  Eucalyptus  odorata,  a  material  of  which 
there  is  an  abundance  available.  The  samples  included  the  crude  oil,  sp.  gr. 
0-903  at  16°  C,  and  the  rectified  oil,  sp.  gr.  0.909  at  18°  C,  both  of  which  gave 
a  strong  eucalyptol  reaction  with  hydrobromic  acid,  but  no  phellandrene 
could  be  detected.  In  addition  there  was  some  "  residue  from  the  rectifica- 
tion," which  appeared  to  be  the  portion  of  the  oil  having  the  highest  boiling 
point  (boiling  between  220°  and  260°  C).  This  fraction,  which  is  a  brown 
liquid  and  has  a  sp.  gr.  of  0-945  is  said  to  be  sought  after  in  Australia  as  a 
soap  perfume.  The  odor  is  said  to  strongly  resemble  that  of  cuminol,  the 
presence  in  it  of  which  body  has  been  detected. 
Eucalyptol  (Cineol)  appears  to  be  one  of  the  most  widely-distributed  con- 
stituents of  essential  oils.  Up  to  the  present  it  has  been  found  in  the  follow- 
ing oils : — 
Oil. 
Origin. 
Discoverer. 
 Weber. 
Cheken  leaves  
Geranium  Oil,  Turkish. — This  essential  oil  is  said  to  be  sometimes  adulter- 
ated with  fixed  oils,  cocoa-nut  oil  being  used  not  unfrequently  to  the  extent 
of  20  per  cent.    The  adulteration  can  be  detected  by  standing  the  flask  con- 
