THE CHEMISTRY OF FRUIT-RIPENING. 471 



almond family the amygdalin and its products are obtained chiefly 

 or only from the kernel, hence the well-known flavoring effect of 

 leaving in the stones, or a few cracked stones, in canned fruits. Some 

 of these fruits, however, have the amygdalin deposited in the sarco- 

 carp (or edible portion). This is stated to be the case with black 

 cherries. 



The almond-flavor is a very grateful accompaniment of fruits and 

 flowers, and it is provided by Nature in safe and wholesome propor- 

 tions, but it has been so tampered with by the art of man that its use 

 is now beset with dangers of several sorts. In the first place, there 

 is the danger in concentrating what the Creator has diluted. The 

 oxygen of the air itself is poisonous when concentrated. Bungling 

 art is almost sure to " o'erstep the modesty of Nature " by using good 

 things in hurtful excess. The essential oil of bitter-almonds extracted 

 from cherry-laurel leaves, or from bitter-almond kernels, is liable to 

 retain a poisonous proportion of the hydrocyanic acid, and its use in 

 flavoring extracts, for pastry, etc., has now and then produced illness 

 and even fatal results, more frequently with children. If made free 

 from hydrocyanic acid, as the manufacturers should do, the essential 

 oil is harmless in any quantity, and the essences, extracts, waters, etc., 

 made from it can be used with entire safety. If long exposed to the 

 air, the oil deposits a slight sediment of benzoic acid, which is harm- 

 less. The danger in the use of bitter-almond oil from the amygdaline 

 of plants lies in possible neglect of removing the hydrocyanic acid. 

 Then, in the next place, there is another substance which has the same 

 odor as bitter-almond oil, viz., a substance named nitrobenzine and 

 sometimes designated "oil of mirbane," a body which is in itself very 

 poisonous, either when taken into the stomach or inhaled into the 

 lungs. It it is a very cheap substitute for actual bitter-almond oil, 

 which it resembles only in the odor. It has been manufactured for 

 twenty years, from coal-tar, great quantities of it being used in 

 making aniline dyes. It is from this article that many cheap grades 

 of soap have been saturated with the smell of almond, of late years, 

 quite to the discredit of the flavor. Unscrupulous manufacturers have 

 used it in confectionery, and the danger of its substitution in culinary 

 extracts besets the public, who cannot employ analysts for the exami- 

 11 ition of every manufactured article purchased for the kitchen. But 

 if chemical art furnished a temptation for the improper substitution 

 of nitrobenzine, it has lately compensated for it by discovering the 

 manufacture of actual bitter-almond oil itself, a pure article, at once 

 real and artificial, and by means so cheap that they are likely to re- 

 move the temptation to use nitrobenzine. German samples of this new 

 product were on exhibition at the Centennial last summer. 



4. Flavoring Ethers. Many other odor-giving constituents, be- 

 sides that of the almond, are subjects of chemical manufacture. For 

 example, oil of wintergreen (found in the berry and other parts) is 



