Chemistry of Essential Oils

COMPOSITE 301

Solidago rugosa yields 0*5 per cent, of an oil of the following

characters:—

Specific gravity £Lfjl 0*862

25

Optical rotation - 12° 8'

Refractive index 1-4800

Saponification value 4-2

„ „ (after acetylation) 11

It contains pinene and limonene.

Solidago Caroliniana yields an oil which has been examined by

Eussell.

1

The fresh herb, gathered before flowering, yielded 0*693 per

cent, of oil having the following characters :—

Specific gravity at 23° 0-8587

Optical rotation - 10° 48'

Refractive index 1-4805

Ester value 6-35

„ „ (after acetylation) 25-3

It consists mainly of dipentene. It also contains pinene, limonene, an

aldehyde in traces, and acetic and formic acids in the form of esters.

OIL OF BLUMEA BALSAMIFEBA.

Bltimea Lasamifera is a plant indigenous to India, and is also found

freely in the Malay Archipelago. The essential oil has been examined

by Jonas,^2 who found it to have the following characters :—

Specific gravity 0*950

Optical rotation - 12° 30'

Refractive index 1'4815

Acid value 23-4

Ester 1

„ „ (after acetylation) 198

He has identified the following compounds in the oil: cineol,

limonene, palmitic and myristic acid in traces, 5 per cent, of a phenol

not definitely identified, Z-borneol, Z-camphor, and a sesquiterpene and a

sesquiterpene alcohol. The phenolic body present is probably phloro-

glucintrimethyl ether.

OIL OF PLUCHEA FOETIDA.

The fresh herb, Pluchea foetida, which is common in the southern
parts of the United States, yields 0'025 per cent, of an essential oil,
which has been examined by Eabak
3
and found to have the following
characters:—
Specific gravity 0-933
Optical rotation - 10'8
Refractive index 1-4832
Acid value 41
Ester 44
„ „ (after acetylation) 104
It contains cineol.
1
Jour. Am&r. Chem. Soc., 38 (1916), 1398.
3 * Schimmel's Bericht, April, 1909, 149.
Mid. Drug, and Ph. Rev., 45 (1911), 485.