A preliminary examination of the oil disclosed considerable free
acidity, the acid number being 2.8, while the ester content was rather
low, the ester number being 14.5. The low ester number would seem to
indicate a low percentage of alcoholic compounds in combination with
acids, and would correspond to 4.9 per cent of esters calculated as the
acetate of borneol. After acetylization of the oil with acetic anhydrid
the saponification number was found to be 64, which corresponds to 14.6
per cent of free alcohol, calculated as borneol.
In order to identify conclusively the constituents of the oil and
the forms in which they occur, and to separate quantitatively the
predominant constituents, the oil was subjected to a more careful and
detailed analysis.