378 THE CHEMISTEY OF ESSENTIAL OILS
It is entirely an Australian plant, being principally found in the
neighbourhood of Port Jackson. It occurs on sandy soil mostly, and
covers many hundred acres of ground between Botany, La Perouse, and
the coast. It has been found north of Manly and also on the Blue
Mountains at King's Tableland, Wentwprth, and Lawson.
The yield of oil obtained was from 0-318 to 0'456 per cent., having a
specific gravity 0'9154, and being slightly dextro-rotatory.
It contains geraniol, to the extent of 57 to 65 per cent, in the form of
acetate, and about 13 per cent, in the free state.
OIL OF DABWINIA TAXIFOLIA.
This oil has the following characters :—
Specific gravity 0-8734 at 21°
Optical rotation. — 6-5°
Yield 0-313 per cent.
This oil contains only about 5 to 6 per cent, of esters and 8 per cent,
of free alcohol. It is probable that the alcohol present is linalol and not
geraniol.
OIL OF DAKWINIA GRANDIFLORA.Baker and Smith
l
have described the essential oil distilled from the
leaves of Darwinia Grandiflora, which was obtained to the extent of 0
- 12
per cent. This oil had the following characters :—
Specific gravity 0-915
Optical rotation + 23-1°
Refractive index 1'4773
Ester value 100-4
The oil contains d-pinene, geranyl acetate, and probably geranyl
butyrate.
CAJUPUT OIL.This oil is distilled from the leaves of several species of Melaleuca,.
myrtaceous shrubs growing abundantly in the Indian Archipelago, the
Malay Peninsula, and other places. Most of the oil of commerce is
yielded by Melaleuca minor. A great portion of the oil is distilled on
the islands of Bouru and Banda, whence it is brought to Macassar and
the neighbourhood for shipment. The bulk of the oil is exported in
wine bottles, although shipment in drums, to save the excessive freight,
has been resorted to. The oil has a powerful camphoraceous odour,
due largely to its high cinebl-content. It is usually of a green colour,
generally due to contamination with copper, but can be obtained white
by re-distillation. The oil has the following characters :—
Specific gravity 0*917 to 0-930
Optical rotation - 1° „ - 4°
Refractive index 1-4650,, 1*471
Normal oil contains up to 65 per cent, of cineol. In addition to
this body, to which the oil owes its value, terpineol and terpinyl acetate
have been found, and, according to Voiry,^2 butyric, valeric, and benzoic
aldehydes and probably laevo-pinene. The low specific gravity of many
l
2 Jour. and Proc. Roy. Soc., N.S.W., 1. (1916), 181.
Jour. Pharm. Chim. (1888), 149.