900;
optical rotation, -2 deg. to -9 deg.; refractive index at 20 deg. C., 1.459-1.464;
esters, calculated as linalyl acetate, 20-40 per cent., occasionally
higher; soluble in 1.5-3 volumes of 70 per cent. alcohol.

There was at one time a theory that the higher the proportion of ester
the better the oil, but this theory has now to a very large extent
become discredited, and there is no doubt that some of the finest oils
contain less than 30 per cent. of esters.

Spanish Oil.--Specific gravity at 15 deg. C., 0.900-0.915; optical rotation,
-2 deg. to +7 deg.; esters, calculated as linalyl acetate, 2-6 per cent.;
soluble in 1-2 volumes of 70 per cent. alcohol.

The chief constituents of lavender oil are linalyl acetate, linalol,
geraniol, and linalyl butyrate, while the English oil also contains a
distinct amount of cineol.

_Lemon oil_, prepared by expressing the peel of the nearly ripe fruit of
Citrus limonum, and obtained almost entirely from Sicily and Southern
Italy. Specific gravity at 15 deg. C., 0.856-0.860; optical rotation, +58 deg.
to +63 deg.; refractive index at 20 deg. C., 1.4730-1.4750; aldehydes (citral),
2.5 to 4 per cent.

The principal constituents of the oil are limonene and citral, together
with small quantities of pinene, phellandrene, octyl and nonyl
aldehydes, citronellal, geraniol, geranyl acetate, and the stearopten,
citraptene.

_Lemon-grass_ (so-called _verbena_) oil, distilled from the grass
Andropogon citratus, which is grown in India and, more recently, in the
West Indies. The oils from these two sources differ somewhat in their
properties, and also in value, the former being preferred on account of
its greater solubility in alcohol.

East Indian.--Specific gravity at 15 deg. C., 0.898-0.906; optical rotation,
-0 deg. 30' to -6 deg.; aldehydes, by absorption with bisulphite of soda
solution, 65 to 78 per cent.; refractive index at 20 deg. C., 1.485-1.487;
soluble in 2-3 volumes of 70 per cent. alcohol.

West Indian.--Specific gravity at 15 deg. C., 0.886-0.893; optical rotation,
faintly laevo-gyrate; refractive index at 20 deg. C., 1.4855-1.4876; soluble
in 0.5 volume of 90 per cent. alcohol.

_Lime oil_, obtained by expression or distillation of the peel of the
fruit of Citrus medica, and produced principally in the West Indies.

Expressed Oil.--Specific gravity at 15 deg. C., 0.870-0.885; optical
rotation, +38 deg. to +50 deg. Its most important constituent is citral.

Distill