53^  New  Essential  Oils.  I^^'- 
\  November,  1911. 
aldehyde  was  evidently  not  yet  quite  pure,  which  may  explain  the 
slight  discrepancies  between  the  two  aldehydes.  The  oxime,  like 
that  of  the  first  aldehyde,  melted  at  loi  to  102°,  the  phenylhydrazone 
at  107  to  108°,  an  inactive  mixture  of  the  two  aldehydes  gave  rise 
to  derivatives  showing  the  same  melting  points.  The  portions  of 
the  oil  which  did  not  react  with  bisulphite  contained  small  propor- 
tions of  cineol,  which  were  isolated  by  means  of  the  resorcinol  com- 
pound. 
Oil  of  Thymbra  Spicata. — The  labiate  Thymhra  spicada  L.,  a 
native  of  Greece  and  Asia  Minor,  is  a  shrub-like  plant  closely  allied 
to  the  genus  Thymus.  We  have  distilled  some  of  this  herb,  which 
came  from  Smyrna,  and  obtained  a  yield  of  1,5  per  cent,  of  a  yellow- 
ish oil  with  an  odor  reminding  of  thyme  and  origanum,  and  con- 
taining about  66  per  cent,  of  carvacrol.  The  oil  had  the  following 
constants:  d,., °  0,9460,  au  -j-  o,  nn^o"  1,50675;  soluble  in  3,5  vols,  of 
70  per  cent,  alcohol. 
Oil  of  Xanthoxylum  Alatitm. — From  London  we  received  under 
the  name  of  "  Chinese  Wild  Pepper  "  the  fruit  of  Xanthoxylum 
alatum  Roxb.,  a  shrub  belonging  to  the  Rutacese,  which  occurs  in 
the  mountains  of  Northern  Bengal  as  well  as  in  China.  Upon  distil- 
lation the  fruit  yielded  3,7  per  cent,  of  a  lemon-yellow  oil  with  a 
peculiar  odor,  reminding  of  oil  of  water-fennel.  Continued  distilla- 
tion yielded,  in  addition,  0,9  per  cent,  of  a  crystalline  substance.  We 
were  compelled  to  abandon  the  attempt  to  dissolve  this  substance  in 
the  oil  in  the  proportion  indicated,  because  the  bulk  of  the  solid 
constituents  again  separated  out  even  at  a  temperature  of  25  to  30°. 
The  properties  of  the  oil  and  of  the  solid  substance  were  therefore 
determined  separately.  The  oil  behaved  as  follows :  di5°  0,8653, 
ai) — ^23°  35',  nD2o°  148131,  acid  no.  9,9,  ester  no.  10,3,  ester  no. 
after  acetyl.  33,6,  soluble  in  2,6  vols,  and  more  of  90  per  cent,  alcohol. 
According  to  these  analytical  values  the  oil  appears  to  consist  chiefly 
of  hydrocarbons,  the  nature  of  which  remains  to  be  elucidated  by 
further  investigation.  The  odor  suggests  the  presence  of  phellan- 
drene. 
The  solid  substance  which  was  obtained  in  the  process  of  dis- 
tillation, after  being  twice  recrystallized  from  alcohol,  presented 
colorless,  odorless,  optically  inactive  needles  or  leaflets,  m.  p.  83°. 
It  was  very  readily  soluble  in  ether,  chloroform,  and  acetone,  a  little 
less  readily  in  alcohol,  benzene,  and  light  petroleum  (all  three  of 
which  solvents  are  very  suitable  for  recrystallizing  the  body),  and 
