N. O. GEAMINE^ 75
hareb " grass. The material yielded 1*0 per cent, of a pale yellow oil,
possessing a pleasant odour resembling that of pennyroyal herb, but
more fragrant. It had a specific gravity of 0*9383, optical rotation
+ 34° 14', saponification value 14, ester value after acetylation 60*2. A
larger supply of material gave T2 per cent, of oil having a specific
gravity of 0*9422, optical rotation + 29° 38', acid value 4*2, ester value
14
*
5, ester value after acetylation 62
*
1 The results of further investi-
gation showed that the oil has the following approximate composi-
tion :—
Per Cent.
Terpenes, including d-limonene and probably pinene... 13-0
Ketones, chiefly or entirely ^'-menthenone ... 45'0
Sesquiterpene alcohol C^H^O ....... 25
*
0
Undetermined alcohol with rose-like odour 3'0
Phenols undetermined (benzoyl derivative melting-point 70°
to 72°) 0-2
Acids, probably acetic, octoic, and decoic, both in free state and
as esters, with palmitic acid as esters..... 2'0
Besidue, probably containing sesquiterpenes .... 11-8
A'-menthenone was first obtained synthetically by Wallach and
Meister, who prepared it from 1:3:4 trihydroxyterpane, and its proper-
ties were fully investigated by Schimmel & Co., who isolated it from
Japanese peppermint oil, which appears to be the first record of its-
occurrence in nature. On reduction it yields menthol.OIL OF VETIVERT.This oil is distilled from the roots of Vetiveria zizanioides Stapf,
the plant formerly known as Andropogon muricatus Ketz. These roots
are known in Bengal under the name of khas-khas, from which the
name cus-cus is easily traced. The plant is a perennial tufted grass
growing to a good height, and is found all over the country near the
Coromandel coast, Mysore, Bengal, Burma, and the Punjab. In con-
tradistinction to the grasses previously described, the leaves themselves
are practically odourless, whilst the roots have a strong, agreeable odour.
The perfume of the roots is suggestive of myrrh. It appears to be
indigenous to the East Indies; is common in the islands of the Malay
Archipelago, on the Malabar coast, in Bengal, Ceylon, in the islands of
the Indian Ocean, the Antilles, Brazil, Jamaica, New Caledonia, and
many other localities.
The plant requires a warm, damp climate, a mean temperature of
25° C., and a firm, sandy, clayey soil. Propagation is made by means
of fragments of the root nipped off and transplanted. This is generally
done in the rainy season, the fragments being planted in borders along
the roads or on slopes where landslips are feared, as the long roots bind
the soil together.
After one year the vetivert has developed strongly, and as a hedge
to plantations of sugar-cane, rice, vanilla, etc., forms a thick curtain,
effectually protecting the crops against storms of wind and dust. On a,
commercial scale the plants are set in rows about 1-J- metres apart, 65
rows to the hectare, a total of 6500 metres representing about 43,000
roots. Such a plantation from the second year will give from 30,000
to 35,000 kilos, of roughly-shaken roots, which after washing will yield
about 2-£ tons of cleaned product. In other words, a hectare of land
gives 2-J tons of marketable vetivert roots.