Origin. - A volatile oil distilled from cloves, yielding not less than 80 per cent. by volume of eugenol.

Description and Properties. - A pale-yellow, thin liquid, becoming darker and thicker by age and exposure to the air, having a strongly aromatic odor of cloves and a pungent, spicy taste. Its specific gravity is 1.060-1.067. Soluble in an equal volume of alcohol, the solution being slightly acid to litmus-paper.

Constituents. - Oil of cloves consists of a light and a heavy oil, the former a hydrocarbon, supposed to be inactive; the latter a phenol-like liquid termed eugenol, a colorless oil with the odor of cloves, a specific gravity of 1.076-1.0785, yielding with bases crystalline salts.

Dose. - 1-10 minims (0.06-0-6 Cc).

Eugenol - Eugenolis - Eugenol. U. S. P.

Definition. - An unsaturated, aromatic phenol, C6Hs(OH)(OCH3).C3H64: 3: I, obtained from oil of cloves and other sources.

Description and Properties. - A colorless or pale-yellow, thin liquid, highly refractive, and having a strongly aromatic odor of cloves and a pungent, spicy taste. Almost insoluble in water, easily soluble in alcohol; should be soluble in 2 parts of 70 per cent. alcohol. This is the chief constituent of oil of cloves, and may be used instead of the latter; it is also the chief constituent of oil of pimenta.

Chemically it is para-oxy-meta-methoxy-allyl-benzol, having the formula:

Dose. - Average dose, 3 minims (0.2 Cc), U. S. P.