The Art of Perfumery, and Methods of Obtaining the Odors of Plants

The spiroylic acid may be separated from the natural oil by treating it with a concentrated solution of caustic potash at a temperature of 113° Fahr., when wood spirit is formed and evaporates, and the solution contains the spiroylate of potash, from which, when decomposed with sulphuric acid, the spiroylic acid separates and subsides in the fluid. Spiroylic acid is also formed by the oxidation of spiroyligenic acid, and when saligenin, salicin, courmacin, or indigo, is heated with caustic potash. ON THE APPLICATION OF ORGANIC CHEMISTRY TO PERFUMERY. BY DR. A.W. HOFMANN, Professor to the Royal College of Chemistry, London.