Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jan.,  1891. 
Notes  on  Esse?ttial  Oils. 
49 
solidified.  By  digesting  the  stearopten  near  its  melting  point  and  by  repeated 
crystallization  two  constituents  were  obtained,  one  melting  at  410  C.  and  the 
other  at  220  C.  The  stearopten  from  German  rose  oil  behaved  the  same. 
One  part  was  separated  from  it,  melting  at  220  C,  and  another,  which  melted 
between  4o°-4i°  C.  It  is  therefore  manifest  that  contrary  to  the  views  hitherto 
held,  rose  oil  stearopten  is  no  uniform  substance,  but  a  mixture  of  what  are 
probably  a  whole  series  of  homologous  hydrocarbons. 
Wintergreen  Oil.  — An  artificial  product,  recently  received  in  New  York  from 
Hamburg,  contained  such  a  large  proportion  of  methyl  benzoate  that  it  was 
easily  recognizable  by  the  odor.  Its  sp.  gr.  was  only  1*133.  Genuine  oil  being 
1*180  and  methyl  benzoate  1*095,  it  was  presumably  a  mixture  of  about  equal 
parts  of  methyl  benzoate  and  salicylate.1 
Messrs.  Schimmel  report  having  experimented  with  a  number  of  novelties  of 
their  own  distillation. 
Mosoi  flower  oil. — The  material  received  from  the  South  Sea  Islands  under 
the  name  of  mosoi  flowers  proved  to  be  dried  cananga  flowers  :  8)4  kilos 
yielded  100  grms.  of  oil,  sp.  gr.  -922,  differing  somewhat  in  odor  from  Indian 
cananga  oil,  but  contained  large  quantities  of  benzoic  acid. 
Walnut  leaves  oil  (Juglans  regia). — 800  kilo  yielded  235  grms.  of  oil,  solid  at 
ordinary  temperatures,  and  of  a  pleasant  tea-like  odor. 
Japanese  Pepper  Oil,  from  Xanthoxylum  piperitum  D.  C,  known  in  Japan 
as  "Sansho."  The  comminuted  fruit  yielded  3*16  per  cent,  of  a  yellowish 
essential  oil,  sp.  gr.  0*973  boiling  between  i6o°-230°  C,  having  a  pleasant 
lemon-like  odor,  probably  due  to  citral. 
Ash  Bark. — The  bark  of  Fraxinus  americana  yielded  0*030  per  cent,  of  oil, 
which,  at  ordinary  temperatures,  has  a  consistence  of  butter  and  a  characteristic 
fruity  odor. 
Bugleweed,  Lycopus  virginicus. — The  dried  herb  yielded  0*075  per  cent,  of 
oil,  sp.  gr.  0*924  at  15®  C. 
Spicewood,  Lindera  Benzoin,  Blume. — All  parts  of  the  shrub  possess  pleasant 
aromatic  odors  which,  however,  are  strikingly  different.  The  bark  yielded 
o'43  per  cent,  of  an  oil  smelling  like  wintergreen,  sp.  gr.  0*923  and  boiling 
between  i7o°-3oo°.  The  berries  yielded  5  per  cent,  of  an  aromatic  and  cam- 
phoraceous  smelling  oil,  sp.  gr.  0*855,  boiling  point  i90°-27o°  C.  This  oil  had 
been  prepared  by  Dr.  A.  W.  Miller, 2  who  obtained  about  4 per  cent.,  sp.  gr.  0*850. 
The  twigs  yielded  0*3  per  cent,  of  an  oil  smelling  like  camphor  and  calamus, 
sp.  gr.  0  925.  The  leaves  yielded  0*3  per  cent,  of  oil  with  a  pleasant  lavender- 
like odor,  sp.  gr.  o*888. 
Sweet  Fern  Leaves. — The  dried  leaves  of  Myrica  asplenifolia,  Fndl.,  yielded 
0*08  per  cent,  oil,  with  a  cinnamon-like  odor,  sp.  gr.  0*926  at  150  and  becoming 
solid  in  a  freezing  mixture. 
1  The  presence  of  a  benzoic  ether  in  a  commercial  sample  of  artificial  oil  of 
wintergreen  was  reported  in  Amer.  Jour.  Pharm.,  1889,  p.  404. 
2  In  Proceedings  Amer.  Pharm.  Assoc.,  1878,  p.  773,  Dr.  Miller  reported  the 
oil  of  a  bright  green  color,  and  in  taste  resembling  that  of  allspice  and  prickly 
ash  ;  yield  not  quite  1  per  cent.  P.  M.  Gleim  (Am.  Jour.  Phar.,  1875,  p.  246), 
reported  5  per  cent,  of  oil,  sp.  gr.  "870  of  a  fragrant  odor  resembling  that  of 
jessamine. — G.  M.  B. 
