100 
Camphor  Oil. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I       Feb.,  1886. 
is  a  terpene  hydrocarbon  of  pleasant  lemon  odor  ;  it  is  probably  iden- 
tical with  the  citrene  of  lemon  oil,  and,  like  hesperidene  of  the 
orange,  yields  a  camphor-like  body  (C10H16O)  when  oxidized  with 
chromic  acid.  It  differs  from  lemon  oil  citrene  in  not  yielding  terpin 
on  oxidation  with  nitric  acid,  and  also  in  its  rotatory  power  (-6  8  "3°). 
Passing  over  the  camphor,  the  author  found  in  the  fifth  fraction  a 
new  body,  the  existence  of  which  in  the  oil  is  directly  connected  with 
the  formation  of  camphor.  In  the  first  instance  this  was  the  portion 
of  oil  boiling  at  208-218°  C,  but  finally  it  was  reduced  to  a  fraction 
boiling  at  212-213°  C,  and  would  only  be  obtained  pure  by  cooling 
to  -30°  C.,in  order  to  completely  separate  the  camphor  from  it.  On 
again  distilling  this  pure  product  the  author  obtained  5'6  per  cent,  of 
camphor,  and  a  second  redistillation  afforded  4*9  per  cent.  more.  Re- 
turning to  the  examination  of  the  camphor-free  oil,  he  found  that  by 
boiling  it  for  six  hours  much  camphor  was  found,  but  that  a  tempera- 
ture of  100°  C.  does  not  have  this  effect.  Previously  he  had  de- 
termined that  the  oil  absorbed  8  per  cent,  by  volume  of  oxygen  in 
the  course  of  a  month,  camphor  being  formed  simultaneously.  He, 
therefore,  concludes  that  the  formation  of  camphor  by  ageing  of  the 
oil  or  by  boiling  is  due  to  the  presence  of  this  oxygenated  oil. 
He  names  it,  provisionally,  camphorogenol  [or  camphor  hydrate 
(C10H16O,  H20)].  It  is  a  colorless,  heavy  oil  of  specific  gravity 
0'9794  at  20°  C,  has  a  pleasant  camphoraceous  odor,  milder,  how- 
ever, than  that  of  camphor.  It  is  soluble  in  alcohol,  ether  and  bi- 
sulphide of  carbon,  but  insoluble  in  water.  Warmed  with  dilute 
nitric  acid  (1  to  20  of  water)  it  yields  a  large  quantity  of  camphor 
and  a  yellow  oil,  from  which  more  camphor  may  be  obtained  by 
freezing.  Boiling  chromic  acid  mixture  has  a  similar  effect.  Benzoic 
acid  and  glacial  acetic  acid  failed  to  act  upon  the  body,  thus  proving 
its  non-alcoholic  nature ;  but  strong  nitric  acid  acts  upon  it,  camphoric 
acid  and  cymene  being  amongst  the  products.  By  acting  on  the 
alcoholic  solution  of  camphorogenol  with  sodium,  camphol  (borneol) 
is  produced.  The  body,  therefore,  forms  a  connecting  link  between 
camphor  and  camphol.  The  author  obtained  7  per  cent,  of  camphor 
from  an  artificial  camphor  oil  composed  of  55  of  camphorogenol,  30 
of  citrene  and  17  of  terebinthene,  by  heating  it  in  presence  of  air  for 
ten  days  on  a  water-bath,  but  failed  to  get  any  camphor  from  a  mixture 
of  citrene  and  terebinthene  alone.  Simultaneously  Avith  the  produc- 
tion of  camphor,  a  part  of  the  camphorogenol  is,  in  all  cases,  poly- 
