47o 
Oil  from  Monarda  Punctata. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharr>>. 
1  September,  1896. 
inactive  thymol,  did  not  inspire  confidence.  Some  of  these  odd 
statements  have  crept  into  the  literature  of  volatile  oils.  Thus  Bor- 
nemann  calls  attention  to  the  supposed  difference  in  rotatory  power 
between  thymol  of  oil  of  thyme,  and  that  from  Monarda.  He  also 
mentions  that  the  thymol  from  fresh  Monarda  oil  is  non-crystalliza- 
ble,  whereas  the  crystallizability  of  the  thymol  increases  with  the 
age  of  the  oil. 
Experimental  Part. — In  view  of  the  interesting  results  obtained 
upon  examination  of  the  oil  from  Monarda  fistulosa  obtained  from 
authentic  material,  and  some  of  the  discrepancies  that  have  crept 
into  literature  on  the  subject,  another  examination  seemed  called 
for.  The  material  from  which  the  oil  was  obtained  was  collected 
early  in  August,  near  Pine  Bluff,  about  fifteen  miles  west  of  Madi- 
son, and  was  identified  by  Prof.  L.  S.  Cheney,  of  the  University  of 
Wisconsin. 
The  flowering  herb  was  distilled  with  water  vapor,  while  still 
fresh,  about  one-half  a  pound  of  oil  being  obtained.  The  oil  was  of 
an  amber  or  light-yellowish  color,  with  a  pleasant  yet  characteristic 
mint-like  odor,  sp.  gr.  0-9307  at  20°.  It  turned  the  plane  of  polari- 
zation o  05479  to  the  right  at  200,  hence 
+  0-0588 
Separation  of  Phenol. — In  order  to  remove  the  phenol  the  oil  was 
shaken  with  10  per  cent,  caustic  soda  solution. 
(1)  From  25  c.c.  of  oil,  shaken  with  50  c.c.  of  the  solution,  14  c.c. 
went  into  solution,  or  56  per  cent,  phenol. 
(2)  A  duplicate  experiment  gave  identical  results. 
(3)  From  150  c.c.  of  oil  shaken  with  350  c.c.  of  soda  solution, 
84  c.c.  went  into  solution,  or  56  per  cent. 
The  alkaline  solution  of  phenol  was  distilled  with  water  vapor  to 
remove  any  non-phenol  portion  of  the  oil  that  might  have  gone 
into  solution.  The  solution  was  then  acidulated  with  sulphuric  acid 
and  the  distillation  continued  The  distilled  oily  phenol  was  dried 
with  exsiccated  sodium  sulphate  and  exposed  to  the  temperature  of 
a  winter's  night,  when  it  solidified  to  a  crystalline  mass.  The  melt- 
ing point  of  the  dried,  almost  colorless  crystals  was  found  to  be  500. 
With  chloroform  and  caustic  soda  it  gave  the  characteristic  reactions 
of  thymol  and  carvacrol.  The  melting  point,  however,  excluded 
the  latter. 
