SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
aspera in sufficient amount in certain situations, or at certain seasons, is in 
accord with the sporadic and sudden fatalities occasionally observed among stock 
grazing where the plant is abundant. 
ROYAL SOCIETY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 
At the December meeting the following papers were read:— 
1. “The Stethoscope, with a reference to a Function of the Auricle.” By 
J. A. Pollock, D.Sc., F.R.S. 
Various forms of stethoscope are considered, and as a general result of the 
discussion it appears that the acoustic determination of surface vibrations has, 
in the last resort, when the disturbances are very small, a definite dynamical 
aspect, the delection in all the instances described depending on the movements 
of the surface relative to a “steady mass” elastically connected with it. In 
delecting small movements with the old-fashioned stethoscope. or after the 
manner of the tracker, the mechanism is supplied by the head and ear, the 
auricle haying the very definite function of acting as the elastic connexion 
between the mass and the surface. In other cases where the air disturbances 
are led by tubes directly into the ear passages the mechanical action is recog- 
nisable associated with the instruments. 
The Chemistry of the Hssential Oils obtained from two teatrees found 
frequenting the beds of Creeks and Rivers in Southern New South Wales, known 
as Leptospermum odoratum and Leptospermum grandiflorum. By A. R. Penfold, 
F.C.S. 
The principal constituents of the former are Hudesmene and Aromadendrene 
(Sesquiterpenes), Eudesmol (Sesquiterpene Alcohol), Alpha and Beta Pinene, 
with smaller amounts of a rose odour Alcohol, Esters, and Phenols. 
This is the first time that Hudesmene has been found occurring in nature. 
Leptospermum grandiflorum consists principally of the same two Sesquiterpenes 
with an unidentified Sesquiterpene alcohol. 
The constants of the two oils are:— 
Leptospermum | Leptospermum 
Odoratum. Grandiflorum. 
Percentage yield of Oil from leaves .. 0°75% 061% 
Specific gravity at 15°C... pe} .02 9280 0° 9324 
Optical Rotation .. BN ..| —19°02 —2-42 
Refractive Index at 20°C. | 1-4990 15048 
Ester No. .. at xs, re Tee i 
"ster after Acetylation és bas 91-93 | 41° 
\ 
Eucalyptus Oil Glands. By M. B. Welch, B.Sc. One of the main characteris- 
tics of the eucalypts is the presence of oil in the leaves. The extraction of this 
oil for therapeutics, perfumery, and mining purposes is an important Australian 
industry. The oil was formerly considered to be present as a single globule 
contained in a smali cavity, but it would now appear that it is rather in the 
form of an emulsion. ‘These cavities usually, though not always, approach the 
surface. Oil occurs also in the stems, buds, fruit, and, in rare species, in the 
barks, and its presence in these various organs is considered in this paper. The 
glands are often more or less devoid of contents, and in the different species show 
decided variation in arrangement and number. Their origin is evidently due to 
the separation of certain cell tissues, and their subsequent disintegration. 
768 
