84 
Stearopten  of  Patchouly. 
i  Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
\       Feb.,  1884. 
THE  STEAROPTEN  OF  OIL  OF  PATCHOULY. 
By  Henry  C.  C.  Maisch. 
Head  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  January  15,  1884. 
Patchouly  camphor,  a  homologue  of  borneol,  as  obtained  from  the 
oil  is  in  pieces  of  various  size  and  form,  mostly  belonging  to  the  hex- 
agonal class  of  crystals.  The  color  ranged  from  light  yellow,  probably 
from  adhering  or  enclosed  oil,  to  colorless. 
In  order  to  purify  the  camphor,  it  was  dissolved  in  alcohol.  This 
solution  did  not  crystallize  although  evaporated  to  a  syrupy  consistency. 
The  alcohol  was  completely  driven  off,  and  the  residue  dissolved  in 
ether,  from  which  solution  it  deposited  after  several  times  r eery stal- 
lizing  in  colorless  truncated  hexagonal  prismatic  crystals. 
The  fusing  points  of  both  the  crude  and  the  recrystallized  camphor 
were  determined.  A  small  quantity  was  put  on  some  mercury  in  a 
beaker  glass  in  which  a  thermometer  was  suspended,  the  mercury 
covering  the  bulb.  A  slow  heat  Avas  then  applied,  the  mercury  in  the 
thermometer  rising  slowly.  The  melting  point  of  the  recrystallized 
camphor  was  found  between  55°  and  56°C,  coming  near  that  deter- 
mined by  Gal  in  1869  ("Compt.  Rend.,"  lxviii,  406),  who  gives  it  as 
54-55°C,  while  another  author,  de  Montgolfier  (aBer.  Deutsch.  Chem. 
Ges.,"  1877,  374),  gives  it  as  59°C.  The  melting  point  of  the  crude 
camphor,  determined  upon  mercury  as  stated  above,  was  found  between 
57-58°C,  or  about  2°C.  higher  than  that  of  the  recrystallized.  The 
latter  again  solidified  when  cooled  to  between  48°  and  49 °C.,  but  the 
congealing  point  for  the  crude  camphor  is  between  54°  and  55°C» 
The  boiling  point  determined  by  Gal,  is  given  at  296 °C.,  the  specific 
gravity  as  1*051  at  4*5°C.,  and  the  vapor  density  as  8'00  at  324°C. 
Both  authors  above  mentioned,  have  determined  the  formula,  Gal 
giving  it  as  C15H280,  and  de  Montgolfier  C15H260.  Further  experi- 
ments have  shown  that  in  the  solid  state  the  camphor  has  no  effect  on 
the  plane  of  polarization  while  in  liquid  state  it  is  levorotatory.  By 
distillation  over  zinc  chloride  and  by  the  action  of  anhydrous  hydro- 
chloric acid,  boiling  acetic  acid  and  acetic  anhydride  one  molecule  of 
water  is  set  free  giving  C15H24  or  C15H26  respectively,  a  liquid  hydro- 
carbon, which  boils  at  about  250°C,  and  at  a  slightly  higher  tempera- 
ture is  converted  into  polymeric  hydrocarbons.  Gal  also  found  the 
oil  left  after  the  crystallization  of  the  camphor,  to  distil  over  almost 
