338        Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.     {Am  jBiy'il^frm" 
A  sample  received  from  the  South  of  France,  of  oil  of  the  leaves 
of  Cupressus  Lambettiana,  a  tree  which  is  often  found  in  the  gardens 
on  the  Riviera,  differs  essentially  from  ordinary  cypress  oil.  The 
odor  of  the  yellowish  green  oil  has  a  melissa  character  which  is 
probably  due  to  the  presence  of  citronellal.  When  extracted  with 
sodium  bisulphite,  aldehydic  constituents  could  actually  be  detected, 
but  their  quantity  was  too  small  to  identify  them  ;  the  odor  pointed 
to  citronellal  or  a  fatty  aldehyde.  The  non-aldehydic  portions  had 
a  pepper-like  odor,  and  may  possibly  contain  cymene.  The  other 
properties  of  the  oil  were  the  following:  d150  0  8656;  aD  +  310  53'; 
acid  number  1-5  ;  ester  number  13-9;  ester  number  after  acetylation 
50-82;  forms  a  cloudy  solution  with  9  to  10  volumes  80  per  cent, 
alcohol,  and  a  clear  solution  with  0-5  per  cent,  and  more  volumes 
90  per  cent,  alcohol.    The  yield  of  oil  was  about  0.1  per  cent. 
From  the  same  source  originated  an  oil  from  the  leaves  of  Laurus 
Camphora.  The  oil,  obtained  from  the  leaves  of  a  tree  growing  in 
a  garden  at  Cannes,  is  in  so  far  specially  interesting,  that  it  has  a 
pronounced  cardamom-like  odor,  and,  as  was  shown  by  the  exam- 
ination, is  also  closely  allied  in  its  composition  to  the  cardamom 
oils.  The  oil  has  little  resemblance  to  previously  examined2  distil- 
lates from  the  leaves  of  Laurus  camphora  L.  It  is  an  open  question 
to  what  cause  these  differences  must  be  attributed.  The  oil,  ob- 
tained in  a  yield  of  about  0-52  per  cent.,  was  colorless  and  behaved 
as  follows:  d150  0-9058;  aD —  260  12';  acid  number  0-34;  ester 
number  8-82;  ester  number  after  acetylation  46-9;  soluble  in  1  and 
more  volumes  80  per  cent,  alcohol.  The  oil  boils  at  4  mm.  between 
350  and  95 °.  In  the  lowest  boiling  portions  we  detected  pinene 
(melting  point  of  the  nitrolbenzylamine  1230)  ;  the  presence  of  cam- 
phene  is  probable,  but  it  could  not  be  proved  with  certainty  (by 
conversion  into  isoborneol).  The  oil  further  contains  large  quanti- 
ties of  cineol  (melting  point  of  the  iodol-compound  1 12°). 
From  the  oil-portions  passing  over  above  760  at  4  mm.,  there 
was  obtained  by  fractionating  in  vacuo  repeated  several  times,  a  prin- 
cipal fraction  (aD  —  580  23')  boiling  between  85 0  and  86°  (5  mm.), 
which  represented  about  10  per  cent,  of  the  oil  employed,  and,  as 
the  further  examination  showed,  consisted  of  1-terpineol,  which  was 
more  closely  identified  by  its  phenyl  urethane  (melting  point  1 12°). 
2  Comp.  Gildemeister  aud  Hoffmann,  "The  Volatile  Oils,"  p.  571. 
