BUKSEEACE^E 471
interruption takes place, the change in the coloration of the wood be-
comes apparent already after a few days; after the lapse of a month a
large portion of the previously white and soft wood has been transformed
into yellowish, hard, and much more aromatic wood. The Indians were
led to this operation by the observation that cut-off linaloe roots frequently
contained so much oil that it could be pressed out with the fingers, and
that trees from which branches had accidentally broken off through gales,
formed much oil, and had changed after many years. The operation,
which has the effect of converting trees poor in oil into trees rich in oil,
is carried out in April and September. The April cut is not so effective
as the September one, as the individual trees in both cases only " mature "
(i.e. run to sap) in the month of January. In October to November the
trees drop their leaves. The distillation of the wood, for which only the
trunk is used, is carried on in the most primitive manner, chiefly from
December to June. The smaller distillers are partly still absolutely wild
Indians who do not speak Spanish; actual factories are not yet in ex-
istence, which is probably due to the difficult conditions of life in the
linaloe districts, where vermin abounds, and where among the Indians
contagious diseases such as leprosy, etc., prevail. The yield of oil ob-
tained in Mexico from the wood amounts at most to 2'5 per cent. The
production of Puebla is said to yield annually about 4000 to 5000 kilos.
The oil is put up in kerosene tins containing 35 to 37 lb., of which two
are packed in a case.
The still, arranged for heating by direct fire, is (according to Schimmel
& Co.), like the other parts of the apparatus, with the exception of the
copper conical head, made from galvanised sheet-iron; it is about 5 ft.
high, and has a diameter of 45 ins. At the lower part of the still an iron
tube has been arranged, which is closed with a wooden plug wrapped up
in banana leaves, and by means of it the water can be drawn off when
the distillation is completed. The removable head, which is provided
with means for cooling, is connected by two tubes with the condenser
proper; pails or kerosene tins serve as receivers.
The still is usually built near a mountain stream. The cut wood is so
filled into the still (about 5 cwt. of chips) that a space of about 10 ins. from
the top of the still is left empty. Water is then added so that the wood
is well covered, and a space of about 7 ins. from the top is left empty.
The wood when distilled in Europe yields from 7 to 9 per cent, of
oil, but whether this is due to better methods of distillation or to an after
development of oil in the wood is a matter of uncertainty.
The oil was investigated by Verneuil and Poisson, who stated that it
distilled almost entirely between 189° and 192°, and that it consisted
mainly of an oxygenated body of the formula 2(C 10 H 8 )5H 2 O. Semmler,
1
however, was the first to discover the true odorous principle of the oil,
which he termed linalol. In addition to this alcohol, geraniol and d-ter-
pineol and the ketone, methyl-heptenone, have been found in the oil,
together with traces of a sesquiterpene and two terpenes. Barbier and
Bouveault give us the composition of an oil examined by them :—
Linalol 90 per cent.
2
Geraniol 2
Sesquiterpene 3
Methyl-heptenone 0
- 1
Terpene (1) O'l
., (2) 0-1
(^1) Berichte (1891), 207. (^3) This figure is too high.