On Essential Oil of Ginger. By A. Papousek.—The root of Zin-
giber officinale contains, according to Morin, an essential oil. To obtain
this in sufficient quantity, ginger was submitted to distillation with
water. With the water a yellow oil goes over, which possesses in a high
degree the odor of ginger, and a burning aromatic taste. Its boiling-
point is 475° F., its specific gravity 0.893.
The raw oil was deprived of water by pieces of fused chloride of cal-
cium, and kept in a retort at a temperature below its boiling-point. At
302° F. a colorless oil evaporated, which, on analysis, gave the follow-
ing numbers :—
Carbon .	.	.	.	81.03	80=81.49
Hydrogen .	.	.	.11.58	69=11.72
Oxygen ....	7.39	5= 6.79
C80 H69 O5=C80 II64 +5HO. This oil is therefore a mixture of hydrates
of a hydro-carbon isomerous with oil of turpentine.
As the oil acquired a darker color, and began to undergo decomposi-
tion (as was known by the formation of water) when the heat was con-
tinued, the distillation was carried no further.
The raw oil was repeatedly distilled with anhydrous phosphoric acid.
The yellow distillate gave the following numbers on analysis :—
Carbon ....	87.99	10=88.24
Hydrogen .	.	.	11.88	8=11.76
The formula Cw Hs places this oil with the numerous series of hydo-
carbons usually characterized as the camphene series. The separation
of the hydrate-water appears to be effected with equal ease by the action
of muriatic acid, as by that of anhydrous phosphoric acid.
If muriatic acid gas be passed-into the raw oil, the latter acquires a
brown color, even if care has been taken by cooling that the action
should not be too violent. The brown oil, saturated with muriatic acid,
was washed with water, then submitted to distillation with water, and
the product, which is of a yellowish color, and contains chlorine, dried
over chloride of calcium. As shown by analysis, these operations, em-
ployed for the purpose of purification, partially decompose the muriatic
acid compound, forming a mixture of a muriatic acid compound in an
unchanged state with a hydrocarbon which has lost its muriatic acid.
Analysis gave—
Carbon ....	73.39	80	73.45
Hydrogen .... 10.36	67	10.25
Chlorine .	.	.	.	.	.	. 3	16.30
CSo H67 C13=C8o H64+3C1 H. This formula may be split in the follow-
ing manner :—3 (C20 H16, ClH)-t C20 H16.
According to this, the essential oil of ginger belongs to the same
class of essential oils as the coriander oil. The ginger employed so
plentifully as an aromatic in cookery, must therefore also belong to the
camphene group of aromatics.—Lond. Pharm. Journal, from Sitzungsl).
der flkad der Wissench. zu Wien, and Chem. Gazette.