32 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL, 



disappears after keeping for two and one- 

 half months. The entire plant distilled 

 when the fruit was half ripe, yielded 17 

 per cent, of oil having a specific gravity 

 .866, soluble in three parts of 70 per cent, 

 alcohol, and with a somewhat buggy 

 odor. Oil from the ripe fruit distilled 

 immediately after harvesting, yielded 83 

 per cent, of oil, having a specific gravity 

 of 876, solubility same as the last and of 

 a pure coriander odor. The promise is 

 made that similar experiments will be 

 made next year upon the oil of caraway 

 which is better suited for the purpose. 



Peppermint oil was distilled separately 

 from two parts of the same collection, the 

 first in a fresh state, the other after being 

 very carefully dried. The former show- 

 ed a specific gravity of .912, the latter 

 .915, and there was a marked difference 

 of odor in favor of the former. Careful 

 estimates are made for the crop of Amer- 

 ican peppermint oil for the year 1895 as 

 follows : 



Michigan, 100,000 pounds to 110,000 

 pounds. 



Indiana, 27,000 pounds. 



Other localities, 10 000 pounds. 



The average yield per acre in New 

 York is from old plantations 18 pounds 

 per acre, trom new plantations 23 pounds 

 per acre. 



Experiments similar to those above 

 recorded with peppermint were conducted 

 with angelica root, calmus, tarragon and 

 other articles and the result summed up 

 in the statement " that the future of the 

 distillation of essential oils lies in the em- 

 ployment of freshly gathered, raw 

 material." 



The important subject of size, develop- 

 ment of roots, etc, as affecting oil per- 

 centage is somewhat elucidated by the 

 following experience with angelica root : 

 ' ' The damp weather of the year 1 894 has 

 naturally exercised a considerable influ- 

 ence upon the development of the roots 



of the angelica plant which attained an 

 extraordinary size. On some of our Mil- 

 titz fields we harvested a few really ex- 

 traordinary specimens, but they contain- 

 ed much water and were poor in oil. The 

 same experience was met with last year 

 by the sugar factories in the case of the 

 sugar percentage of the beet. Taking 

 the figure 100 as a normal oil yield of 

 angelica, the yield in the very dry year 

 1893 was only 80, and in the very wet 

 year 1894 the average fell as low as 60. 

 The following differences were 

 found between the oil from angelica 

 root and that from leaves and buds dis- 

 tilled before the expansion of the flowers. 

 The oil from the herb has a specific 

 gravity of .886 at 15 degrees C. an optical 

 rotation of +20 degrees to 25 degrees. 

 That from the root has a specific gravity 

 of .863 to.918 at an optical rotation of 

 + 25 degrees to 31 degrees. The herb 

 yielded only .09 per cent, of oil- 



The deterioration of the oil of bitter al- 

 monds by the oxidation of benzaldehyde 

 into benzoic acid is described, and the im. 

 practibility of preventing it by the perfect 

 exclusion of air is remarked upon as hav- 

 ing led to experiments looking toward its 

 prevention by the addition of alcohol. 

 From these it is concluded that the addi- 

 tion of 10 per cent, of alcohol has a strong 

 preserving influence, and that a smaller 

 addition not merely fails to act as a pre- 

 servative, but is directly injurious to the 

 oil. 



To so great an extent is the consump- 

 tion of anethol replacing that of anise 

 oil, that the firm's sales of the former have 

 reached five times that of the latter. 



The researches of Power and Kleber 

 on Bay Oil, previously published in the 

 Pharmacetitische Ruyidschau are discussed, 

 and the following scale of its constituents 

 presented, those existing in the largest 

 amount standing successively before the 

 others. 



