THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF TEE CHEMICAL SOCIETY. By R. HAINES,M.B. PROFESSOR OF MATERIA H‘TDICA IN THE GRANT MEDICAL COLLEGE BOMBAY. THISumbelliferous plant grows abundantly in Rajpootana and in various other parts of Central India. The fruit is short compressed laterally ;and in shape size and appearance very closely resembles that of Conirmt mnculuturn. It has a powerful and agreeable odour of thyme. The process of extracting its volatile oil is well known to the natives and is practised pretty extensively in the state of Judore and the neighbouring territories. The oil is used by the native doctors as a carminative under the name of Ajzua ke tel or Ajwa oil. This as sold in the Bombay bazaars is of a dark amber-yellow coloiir somewhat viscid and not pouring freely as if loaded with resin or fixed oil.It bas a pure odour of thyme. Redistilled with water it yielded after cohobating the water several times a little more than one-fourth of its bulk of a limpid bright yellow oil. The residue was a dark orange-yellow viscid oily liquid almost free from odour. This resid.ue was sparingly soluble in alcohol even when boiling and itself dissolved an appreciable quantity of alcohol. On evaporating the alcoholic solution the oil was obtained unchanged in its pro-perties. It did not appear to contain resin. It was more soluble in ether. Boiled with potash it formed a soluble soap. Under a heat gi*aclually increasing to near redness it was converted into volatile VOL. virI.--No. XXXII. U MR.R. HAINES ON liquid and gaseous products giving off the pungent odour of acrolein. A small residue of carbon was left in the retort. Warmed with solution of pernitrate of mercury it did not solidify or undergo any material change beyond becoming of a darker colour and somewhat more viscid. It consisted therefore essentially of a siccative fixed oil,-probably poppy oil,-with which the volatile oil had been adulterated. The rectified oil distilled by itself began to boil at 350' F. the boiling point slowly rose to 366O at which about one-third came over and then advanced more rapidly to 450'. A small dark-coloured residue was left in the retort. The product by repeated fractional distillation was separated into two portions one boiling at 353' the other at 440'-450'; the former amounting to about two-thirds the latter to one-third of the whole.The more volatile portion was colourless refracted light strongly and had a peculiar sweetish smoky odour reminding somewhat of caraway but entirely distinct from that of thyme. Digested over powdered chloride of calcium and re-distilled it retained the same boiling point. Re-distilled over hydrate of soda its boiling point was reduced to 347" at which it remained constant. Its specific gravity at 80' was 0.845. Burnt with oxide of copper the following results were obtained :-I. 6.69grains gave 6.43 water. 11. 8-62 , , 8-20 , and 28.51carbonic acid. 111. 7-59 , , 7.35 , , 24.92 , , Calculated. Found. /-\ I. 11. 111. 20C 120 89.55 -90.20 89-54 14 I3 14 10.45 10-68 1057 10.76 134 100.00 100.77 100.30 It is therefore isomeric if not identical with cymole-C,,H,,.The portion which boiled at 440'-450' had a yellowish colour which could not be removed by repeated distillation. Its odour was that of the original oil but more concentrated. When kept for several days it did not crystallive; but on throwing into it a minute fragment of the stemoptene previously deposited from the oil crys- tals began to form immediately and in a few hours it bad become almost wholly converted into nearly colourless crystals forming flattish THE VOLATILE OIL OF PTYCHOTIS AJWAN. tables of a rhomboidal shape surronnded by a dark yellow oily liquid. By pressure between folds of blotting paper the crystals were obtained dry and pure.They were then found to be identical with the crystals sold in the bazaar as Ajwa kapid or flowers of Ajwa.* They have a powerful odour of thyme and a hot and very pungent taste; are insoluble in water but freely soluble in alcohol ether and volatile oils. At 127"F. they melt to a colourless liquid which begins to boil at 439";but the temperature quickly rises to 447O at which the whole comes over. The distilled liquid is colourlese not so strongly refractive as the more volatile liquid and it may be kept for weeks in closed vessels in a fluid state until a fragment however minute of its crystal is thrown in when cry stallisation instantly begins in all directions throughout the liquid. The latter was neutral to test-paper.Its specific gravity at 78*was 0.939. Sulphuric acid combines with it without charring forming a colourless or pinkish crystalline mass soluble in water and yielding a soluble salt with baryta. Nitric acid aided by heat oxidises it rapidly and gives rise to the production of a gamboge-yellow sticky resin. A crystal thrown into nitro-muriatic acid causes the instant forma-tion of a dark green colour which passes after a few minutes into brown with the formation of a resin. It did not combine with hydrate of soda or with a strong solution of potassa. Heated with solid potassa it yieided no ammonia. It was analysed by combustion with oxide of copper. I. 5.31 grains yielded 4.57 of water. (The carbonic acid was lost.) 11.5.73 , , 4-93 , and 16.75 of carbonic acid. 9 9, 111. 6.67 , 5.72 19.43 9 , Its composition is therefore as follows :-Calculated. Found. I. 11. 111. 20 C 120 80.00 - 79.72 79.45 14H 14 9-33 9.56 9.56 9.53 2 0 1G 10.67 - 10.72 10-02 150 100.00 100.00 100~00 * I have not been able to discover by what method the natives contrive troobtain the stearopteno from the oil it is probably so loaded with it as to crystallise ollt on dropping in a fragment resay formed without its being necessary to re-distil the oil. MR. ALFRED NOBLE ON It is evidently therefore identical with the stearoptene of the oil of thyme or thymole described by M. Lalleruand in the Comptes rendus of Sept. 26th 1853. I could not observe however the pro- perty which M.Lallenian d assigns to thymole,-of combining with caustic alkalies. The reaction with nitro-muriatic acid is also T believe new. Oil of Ajwa then combines the properties of the oils of cumin and thyme having the hydrocarbon of the one and the oxidised oil of the other thus :-C,,H, = Cyniole -Hydrocarbon of Ajwa oil ; C2,H,,0,= Thymole-Stearoptene of ditto ; and it thus presents an exception to the general relation of the coni-ponents of volatile oils the stearoptene being simply the hydrocarbon plus oxygen without the separation of any portion of the hydrogen.