LAUBACE^E 163
therefore, from the Japanese oil in that the camphor has not been
separated and that it contains no safrol.
CAMPHOR OIL FROM INDIA.
Simonsen and Ghose
l
report on experiments carried out on the dis-
tillation of camphor and camphor oil from the leaves of young trees
grown in various parts of India. They obtained from 0
*
25 to 2*01 per
cent, of camphor, and a varying amount of camphor leaf oil. This oil,
after separation of the camphor, contained d-alpha-pmeue, dipentene,
oineol, terpineol, caryophyllene, and a trace of cadinene, but no safrol.
CAMPHOR OIL FROM MAURITIUS.
The camphor tree is cultivated in the various botanic gardens and
forest plantations, but so far camphor has not been produced on a com-
mercial scale on the island. Distillation experiments have been con-
ducted in recent years, and specimens of the oil obtained have been
examined at the Imperial Institute. The samples contained a consider-
able quantity of cineol, and differed greatly from the camphor oil of
commerce. They had the following characters :—
- Specific gravity (15°)... 0-907 0-906 0-925
Optical rotation (100 mm. tube) - 20° 4' - 21° 5' - 6° 20'
Gineol by resorcinol method 69 per cent. 65 per cent. 72 per cent
Five samples received in 1911 were described as follows :—
No. 1.—Camphor leaf oil.
„ 2.— ,, root „
,, 2.— „ twig „
„ 4.- „ „ „
» 5.— „ wood „
These had the following characters :—
No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. No. 4. No. 5.
Specific gravity at
15°... 0-9162 0-9508 0-9143 0-9243 0-9164
Optical rotation. - 18° 38' + 13° 36' - 15° 22' - 11° 37' - 11° 26'
Percentage of oil ab-
sorbed by resorcinol 55 per cent. 38 per cent. 54 per cent. not determined
No camphor was separated on cooling to - 10°, but from No. 2 as
the result of fractionation about 6 per cent, of camphor was extracted,
and an appreciable amount of safrol. From the other oils no camphor
could be obtained and no safrol was detected.
These oils from Mauritius differ therefore from the camphor oil of
commerce in containing a considerable quantity of cineol, but no safrol,
and with the exception of No. 2 all were laevo-rotatory, instead of
dextro-rotatory. In view of these results, a comprehensive series of*
distillations were conducted in Mauritius by the chemist to the Depart-
ment of Agriculture. The results confirmed the previous experiments,
and showed that the camphor trees in Mauritius do not yield solid
camphor on distillation, and that the small amount present is readily
dissolved in the oil, and is not readily separated from it. It was thought
possible that the abnormal character of the oils might be due to the
trees not being genuine camphor trees, but specimens examined at Kew
1
P. and E.O.R., 1920, 301.
