LAUBACE^E 143The wood of Cinnamomum Parthenoxylum, a Javanese tree, yields
.•about 08 per cent, of oil, having the following characters :—
Specific gravity 1-0799
Optical rotation. .' + 1° 22'
Refractive index 1-5323
It is soluble in 25 to 3 volumes of 90 per cent, alcohol. Its principal
•constituent is safrol.
,4 Schimmel & Co.^1 have examined the oil'from the Japanese bark known
as Yama-nikkei, a wild so-called cinnamon tree. The oil was of a pale
yellow colour, with an odour reminding one of camphor and of ginger.
It had the following characters :—
Specific gravity 0-9245
Optical rotation + 8° 34'
Refractive index ....... 1-47779
Acid value ... 0-6
Ester , 14-8
It contains camphor, terpenes, and, probably, cymene.
The bark of the Japanese Cinnamomum pedunculatum yields an oil
having the following values :—
Specific gravity 0-917 to 0-932
Optical rotation - 4° 40' „ - 14° 32'
Acid value 0
Ester ,, 0
„ „ (after acetylation) .... 84-6
The oil contains eugenol, methyl-eugenol, phellandrene, and prob-
ably linalol.
The leaves of this tree, which is known as the Yabunikkei tree, yield
14 per cent, of a slightly laevorotatory oil having a specific gravity
10665. It contains eucalyptol, eugenol, safrol, and terpenes.
2
i The so-called Nepal sassafras, or Nepal camphor tree, is probably
Cinnamomum Ceciodaphne. The essential oil from the wood of this
tree has been examined by Pickles.
3
The material used for distillation consisted of billets of heart wood,
free from bark. Its odour was rather that of safrol than camphor.
The yield was 295 per cent, on the original wood, or 4'16 per cent, on
the wood after grinding. The oil was of a pale yellow colour, and had
the following characters :—
Specific gravity 1-1033
Optical rotation - 0° 4'
Saponification value 28
„ „ (after acetylation) 7
The oil consists almost entirely of ethers, the well-defined ones being
•safrol, myristicin, and elemicin.
No fraction was obtained below 230°, so that terpenes were clearly
absent. No aldehydes were present. A methoxyl determination showed
the presence of 16*16 percent, of CH 3 O. As safrol contains no methoxyl
it is obvious that other ethers are present. A complete fractionation
resolved the oil into the following fractions:—
(1) First fraction from which a crystalline body separated, (2) 233°
to 238° = 7'4 per cent., (3) 238° to 243° = 11 per cent., (4) 243° to 248°
= 5-8 per cent., (5) 248° to 253° = 4 per cent., (6) 253° to 258° = 3-6
per cent., (7) 132° to 137° at 12 mm. = 3'2 per cent., (8) 137° to 142° at
1
Report, October, 1914, 54. 2Jour. Chem. Ind. Jap., 18 (1915), 913.
3
Jour. Chem. Soc. (1912), L4b3.