BUKSEKACE^ 467
was identified by its tetrabromide, and ^ara-cymene by oxidising with
potassium permanganate to ^-hydroxy-isopropyl benzoic acid.
Fromin and Antin
l
isolated from this oil a (ketonic ?) alcohol, of the
formula C 10 H 16 O, boiling at 210° to 211°. This body has been named
olibanol. Esters of borneol were also detected.
Bosivellia serrata, a closely-related plant, is a native of North-west
India, and yields a gum resin which is collected twice a year in the Punjab.
It is employed' by the natives in the treatment of rheumatism and nervous
disease, and is an ingredient in certain ointments. In Gujerat it is burnt
as incense in religious ceremonies. Experiments have been conducted at
the Forest Kesearch Institute, Dehra Dun, with a view to determining
the best method of treating the crude gum resin in order to obtain the
essential oil, resin, and other products. The gum and impurities were
first separated from the resin and oil by treating a quantity of the raw
product in a false-bottomed copper still and passing steam through the
mass. The resin and most of the oil passed through the false bottom,
leaving the gum and impurities above. The oil was then separated from
the resin by steam distillation, and the resulting oil fractionally distilled
up to 155° C. yielded an oil consisting almost wholly of dextro-pinene,
and a portion consisting mostly of limonene or flipentene. Samples of
these were examined at the Imperial Institute.
2
The oil distilled princi-
pally between 153° and 160°, had specific gravity 0*8446, optical rotation
- 31° 24', ester value 26, ester value after acetylation 364. It readily
dissolves resins such as colophony, dammar, sandarac, and soft copal, but
varnishes thus prepared dried more rapidly than those made with com-
mercial turpentine, and gave a rather less lustrous surface.
OIL OF ELEMI,And other Canarium Species.The elemi of commerce is the balsamic exudation of Canarium
luzonicum, the Manila elemi, which is produced entirely in the Philippine
Islands. Many other species of Canarium yield similar products, which,
however, are scarcely commercial articles.
Manila elemi yields from 15 to 30 per cent, of essential oil, whose
odour is largely that of phellandrene. The oil has the following char-
acters :—
Specific gravity
Optical rotation
Refractive index
Acid value
Ester „
0-870 to 0-915
30° to + 55° (rarely + 4° to + 131°)
1*4775 to 1-4900
0 „ 2
4 „ 10
The oleoresin is produced in a manner similar to that used for the
collection of turpentine, and is then steam distilled.
According to Clover,
3
the oil is very variable in character and com-
position. He has examined twenty-one different samples of authentic
origin, and divided them into the following groups:—- Ten samples consisted of practically pure d-limonene.
- Nine samples contained phellandrene, associated with either
pinene or limonene.
1
Annalen, 401 (1913), 253.
- Bull. Imp. Inst., xiii., 3, 351.
*Amer. Chem. Jour., 39 (1908), 613.