168 





which has proved so lucrative an industry in Southern it would be difficult to create a demand for it unless 

 Europe with the delicate flower scents, would seem to manufacturers could be assured of regular supplies in 

 be a profitable pursuit in a tropical place like Papua. 

 The heavy scents of the tropical flowers have, to many, 

 an attraction equal to that of the rose and violet, 

 and many perfumes of European fame have as basis 

 a tropical oil. Of these, Ylang-Ylang is worth culti- 



Tt is one of the Anonaeece Ccmangium odor- 



vating. 



afiu/i y and some trees closely resembling it occur in 



Papua. 



The Rutaceae should also be examined for oils. One 

 is commonly used by natives, who tuck the leaves into 

 their armlets. It is, I think, an Evodia. There is an 

 M phi-ton ia which has a scented hark, and several other 

 trees whose barks or leaves cany essential oils. 



Th 



e 



cinnamon tree, ( 'inntimornum mass 01 a, and sandalwood 



shipments of at least 1 ton at a time. 



The firm suggested that the oil might be distilled in 

 Papua and shipped to the United Kingdom in drums, 

 and added that, although this might cause the oil to 

 become darker in colour, it would not affect its value 

 as a source of eugenol. 



Essential oil distillers, who were consulted, also est i- 

 mated the current value of the oil at about 4s. per lb. 

 On this basis, the oil obtainable from a ton of bark of 



the quality of the present sample, would be worth aboul 



£28. 



The question of planting sandalwood has been dealt 

 with under the section " forest policy." The Papuan 



which turns out to be identical with Beccari's Massoia 

 aromatica, and which is called Api-Api by the Motuans, 



is common, and grows large and yields a spicy bark. 



Specimens of the bark were forwarded to the Im- 

 perial Institute 1 , London, and the following report was 

 furnished by the Director: — 



ing analysis, which was kindly earned cut by Mr. H. 



V. Marr, of the firm of Plaimar & Company, the 



largest sandalwood oil distillers in Australia: — 



Present 

 Sample. 



Previous 

 Sam i ile. 



Oil from Ni'\v Guinea 

 " Massoy •" Bark. 



Specific Gravity at 



15 L5°C . . 

 Optical Rotation I) 

 Refractive Index n I >20O°C 



Phenols 



(expressed 

 eugenol) per cent. 



as 



1-064 



1 0«0 



■ 



1-04 to 1 068 



-0-34° 



-0-90° 



• • 



L-586 



1 * 534 



• • 



79 



60 



70 to 75 



Optical rotation, minus :!7° 24'. 



Refractive index, 1.505. 



Alcohols as santalol, 84.3 per cent. 



Mr. Marr comments on these results: — 



r< The high optical rotation obtained from this 

 wood is remarkable, the normal rotation of oil of 

 sandalwood being usually between the limits of 



16 to —22, these being the figures provided for 



in the various pharmacopoeia." 



re- 



An examination of the phenolic portion of the oil 

 showed that it consisted mainly, if not entirely, of 



eugenol. 



Vfter the removal of the phenolic portion, the resi- 



dual oil had the following constants: 



Specific gravity at 15/15 °C, 1.035. 

 Optical rotation I)., minus 1.40°. 

 Refractive index nD20°CL 1.522. 



I have found great difficulty in obtaining any 

 liable information regarding the trade in sandalwood. 

 At one time it was the most important export of Papua, 

 but supplies were cut from all easily accessible country 

 in the central dry belt, and to-day it is said to be 

 two days' bad carrying to bring logs to the sea-board. 

 Prices havei ruled as high as ,£40 per ton for 4-in. 

 wood and over, in Thursday Island, and £20 to £30 

 for smaller stuff. The wood went to Hong 

 where it was again shipped to other parts of China. 

 The smaller wood was probably used like the Western 

 Australian sandal — purely for joss sticks,, and the 

 larger logs, for ornamental knick-knacks, chains, toys, 



Kong, 



This non-phenolic portion of the oil, on repeated frao- &c - ln appendix will be found a list of forest exports 



r ion nl distillation under atmospheric pressure, fur- 



nished the following fractions 



Fraction. 



1 

 2 



3 



Residue 



Boiling ;»t 



1-fCO 



9 9 



175 



225° 



2:w° - 



• • 



• * 



225°C 



236°C 



240 C 



• • 



Per «cnt. 

 25 



68 

 6 



2 



since the beginning of shipping entries in Papua, and 

 British rule in the sister territory. Much must have 

 been exported before 1886, as there is evidence of 



these waters for bee he-de-mer and 



Chinese visiting 



sandalwood in very early times. 



With the manufacture of sandalwood oil in Western 



Fraction No. 1 was evidently composed largely of 



terpenes. 



Fraction No. 2 was found to consist almost entirely 

 of safrole, and on redistillation almost the whole of it 

 boiled at 229° — 233°C. The congealing point of this 



fraction was + 7°C., as compared with +11°C. re- 

 corded for pure safrole. 



The 



results show that the approximate 

 composition of the volatile oil from the present sample 



foregoing 



M 



I i 



Eugenol, 



Papua was as follows: 



79 per cent. 



are being investigated. 



Safrole, 14 per cent. 



Other constituents (principally terpenes), 7 



per cent. 



Commercial Value . 



The oil was submitted to importers in London, who 

 considered that the only commercial outlet for the oil 

 in this country would be as a source of eugenol, for 

 which purpose it would have to compete with such 

 products as clove, cinnamon, and pimento oils. The 

 firm wore of opinion that the nominal value of the oil fairly large population. 



Australia, there offers a sound continuous market for 

 Papuan wood, and steps should be taken by merchants 

 interested to arrange contracts ahead, and quietly open 

 up the sandalwood industry again. It is a matter of 

 organization, for in Western Australia, wood is brought 

 through 60 miles of waterless country by camel teams, 

 and put on rail for £8 a ton. Two days porterage 

 should not make sandalwood inaccessible in Papua. 



The trees represented by No. 304 Neasr-Pentrnpetolon 

 Motleyi, and 785 Gam/pnosperm/am brevipetiolata in the 



herbarium are of special interest, and the oils yielded 



I have not met with such a 

 case as No. 304 before, and the yield seems to< be so 

 good that, if the oil has a value, its collection should 

 prove a profitable business, 

 that I was unable to get fruit or flowers of so< interest- 

 ing a specimen. Now, however, that a saw-mill has 

 opened on the Wami, there should be little difficulty in 

 obtaining material to enable the identification of so 

 interesting a tree. 



No. 785 has an advantage over No. 304, for the oil 

 is in daily use by the natives, who have perfected a 

 tapping system. There is not the same copious yield, 

 but the supply is sufficient for the requirements of a 



It is most unfortunate 



from this point of view would be about 4s. per 11)., ex- 



Mr. S. G. 11. Jones, of the Department of Chemistry, 



wharf, London (April, 1025), but they pointed out that Brisbane University, kindly undertook the examination 



