534 
Nczv'  Essential  Oils. 
{Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
November,  1911. 
The  sp.  rotation  of  the  purified  camphor  in  55,55  per  cent,  alcoholic 
solution  (90  per  cent.)  was  [a]D  + 46,32°;  in  a  43,91  per  cent, 
solution  of  xylene  [a]D  +  49,12°,  falling  to  [a]D  +  48,72°  after  the 
solution  had  been  allowed  to  stand  for  10  days.  The  oxime  melted 
at  118°  and,  as  was  to  be  expected,  rotated  in  the  opposite  direction, 
that  is  to  say,  to  the  left.  When  boiled  with  acetic  anhydride  no 
alcoholic  constituent,  such  as  borneol,  could  be  detected ;  the  crude 
product,  therefore,  consisted  only  of  d-camphor. 
Oil  of  Dacrydium  Franklinii.—A  distillate  obtained  from  the 
wood  of  Dacrydium  Franklinii  Hook.  f.  (D.  huonense  A.  Cunn.)  has 
been  sent  to  us  from  Melbourne,  Victoria.  The  tree,  which  belongs 
to  the  Conifera^,  is  known  there  as  "  Huon  Tree."  The  oil  was  of 
a  pale  yellow  color  and  had  a  pronounced  odor  of  methyl  eugenol, 
which,  in  fact,  forms  its  principal  constituent.  d^r,°  1,0443;  "D + 
0°  6';  nD2o"  I '53^87;  acid  no.  0,9;  ester  no.  1,5;  soluble  in  5,2  vols, 
and  more  of  60  ]>er  cent,  alcohol ;  the  dilute  solution  showed  a  faint 
opalescence.  Jn  distilling,  the  greater  part  of  the  oil  passed  over 
between  251  and  253°  [754  mm.  (98  to  100°  at  2  to  3  mm.)  |  and 
proved  to  be  methyl  eugenol,  which  was  identified  by  conversion  into 
veratric  acid  (m.  p.  179  to  180).  The  oil  also  contains  traces  of 
eugenol  (benzoyl  compound,  m.  p.  70°).  The  methoxyl  determina- 
tion gave  the  high  methyl  value  of  164,3,  from  which  the  methyl 
eugenol  content  was  calculated  as  97,5  per  cent,  but  in  reality  it  is 
probably  a  little  less. 
Oil  of  Eugenia  Apienlata. — In  Chili  a  drug  known  locally  as 
"  arrayan  "  is  used  in  diarrhoea  and  in  affections  of  the  lungs,  for 
which  purposes  it  is  said  to  enjoy  a  high  repute  among  the  natives. 
According  to  Tunmann  ^  it  consists  of  the  young  leaves,  about 
15  mm.  long  and  10  mm.  broad,  of  a  small  tree  of  the  family  of  the 
Myrtaceae,  Eugenia  apiculata  D.  C.  In  addition  to  a  glucoside-like 
tanning  principle  the  leaves  contain  an  essential  oil,  to  which  their 
medicinal  virtues  are  specially  attributed.  We  have  worked  up  a 
parcel  of  these  leaves,  which  yielded  1,27  per  cent,  of  a  brown  oil, 
with  an  odor  resembling  that  of  oil  of  myrtle,  and  possessing  the 
following  constants:  d^gO  0,8920,  aD  +  12°  40',  noso^  1^47821,  acid 
no.  5,5,  ester  no.  25,8,  ester  no.  after  acetylation  65,3,  soluble  in 
0,5  vol.  and  more  of  90  per  cent,  alcohol,  parafHn  being  separated 
out  when  the  solution  is  diluted ;  the  oil  is  not  soluble  in  10  vols. 
80  per  cent,  alcohol. 
Oil  of  PeriUa  Nankinensis. — Perilla  nankinensis  Decne.  (Perilla 
Pharm.  Zentralh.,  50  (1909),  887. 
