Exhibits at the Japan-British exhibition, London, 1910 / Frederick B. Power, director of the laboratories.

  • Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories.
Date:
[1910]
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: Exhibits at the Japan-British exhibition, London, 1910 / Frederick B. Power, director of the laboratories. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    18/68 (page 14)
    Essential Oil of Algerian Rue The constituents of this oil were thoroughly investi gated. The larger proportion of the oil was found to consist of methyl /?-heptyl ketone and methyl /?-nonyl ketone, which were present in about equal amounts, and these were accompanied by relatively small amounts of the corresponding carbinols. In connection with this investigation, a new, synthetic ketone, methyl /3-methyl- hexyl ketone, was prepared and characterised (Journ, Chem, Soc. 1902, 81, pp. 1585-1595)- Essential Oil of Hedeoma pulegioides, Persoon The plant yielding this essential oil is indigenous to North America, where it is commonly known as American Pennyroyal. The oil, which possesses a highly aromatic, mint-like odour, is used medicinally. It contains a considerable proportion of pulegone, and the investigation conducted in these laboratories has led to the identification, among other compounds, of /-menthone, <^-zsomenthone, and methylcyc/ohexanone as constituents of the oil. The two last-mentioned ketones are of particular interest, inasmuch as it appears to have been the first instance in which their occurrence in nature has been observed [Journ. Chem. Soc, 1907, 91, pp. 875-887). Essential Oil of Nutmeg This essential oil has been thoroughly investigated, and has been shown to be of very complex composition. Although consisting largely of the terpenes phiene, camphene, and dipentene, it also contains, among other substances, the alcohols linalool, borneol, terpincol and geraniol, or their esters, together with eugenol, iso- eiigenol, safrole, and myristicin. It was shown that the portion of the oil which had hitherto been designated myristicol is a mixture of alcohols, consisting chiefly of terpineol (Journ. Chem. Soc., 1907, 91, pp. 2037-2058).