UMBELLIFEE^E 311
methoxystilbene. A crystalline substance melting at 164° to 165° is
also present in the oil.
Water fennel oil is obtained from the fruit of Oenanthe Phellan-
drium, the fruit of which yields about 2 per cent, of oil. The oil has
the following characters :—
Specific gravity 0-850 to 0-894
Optical rotation-f+ 12° „ + 20°
Refractive index 1-4840 „ 1-495O
The oil contains pinene, sabinene, and ^&ztfro-/?-phellandrene.
Schimmel & Co. have also isolated an alcohol which they termed
androl, and which has the following characters :—
Specific gravity 0*858
Optical rotation..- 7° 10'
Refractive index 1*4499
Boiling-point.197° to 198°
It forms a phenyl-urethane melting at 42° to 43°. Its formula is
C 10 H 20 O. They have also isolated an aldehyde, which they named
phellandral, and which is, chemically, a tetrahydrocumic aldehyde of
the constitution
CH. (C 3 H 7 )H9C,
C. COH
OIL OF CUMIN.
Cumin Oil or Cummin Oil is obtained from the fruit of Cuminum
cyminum, a native of Upper Egypt and Ethiopia, but cultivated in
Arabia, India, China, Malta, Sicily, etc. The bulk of the supply of
commerce is obtained from Sicily, Malta, Mogador, and India. The
yield is from 2*5 per cent, to 4 per cent, of a light yellow oil having
the following characters :—
Specific gravity 0-900 to 0 -930
Optical rotation + 3° „ + 8°
Refractive index 1-4940 „ 15070
Oil distilled from Cyprus seeds,^1 however, was found to have the
following characters:—
Specific gravity. 0-953 to 0956
Optical rotation + 1° 30' „ + 1° 39'
Refractive index 1*5100 to 1-5140 at 23°
Aldehydes 47 „ 52 per cent.
Distillates of high gravity dissolve in 3 volumes of 80 per cent,
alcohol, but low gravity oils require 8 to 10 volumes. The oil contains
from 25 to 35 per cent, of aldehydes. Wolpian^2 states that he has
obtained from cumin oil a fraction boiling at 157° to 158°, which was a
terpene which he could not identify with any known terpene. How-
ever, it is doubtful whether he obtained it in a state of purity, and the
proposed name hydrocuminene appears rather premature, as no de-
rivatives were prepared.
1
Bull. Imp. Inst., July-September, 1917.
2
Pharm. Zeit. filr Russland, 1896, p. 97.