LAUBINE^. 207 



Oil of cassia, like oil of cinnamon, consists chiefly of 

 Cinnamic aldeliydey C^H^(CH)'^COH, togetlier with a variable 

 proportion of hydrocarbons. The oil easily absorbs oxygen, 

 becoming thereby contaminated with resin and cinnamic acid, 

 C^II5(CIt)''^C00II, In a sample examined by Messrs. Schimmel, 

 the cinnamic aldehyde amounted to 77 "7 per cent., the distilla- 

 tion residae to 5"5 per cent., and the cinnamic acid to 0*7 per 

 cent. After one year's free exposure to light, warmth, and air, 

 the percentage of cinnamic acid in this oil had increased to %'^^ 

 and of distillation residue to 12*6, whilst the cinnamic aldehyde 

 had decreased to 68-5, showing that the most important change 

 in the oil is the conversion of cinnamic aldehyde into cinnamic 

 acid, and a slight increase of resinous matter, to the extent of a 

 few per cents., namely, of one part of the 7 per cent, increase of 

 the residue remaining after distillation at 290^ 0. This point 

 is of importance, as interested parties have attempted to explain 

 the presence of 30 to 40 per cent, of resin in the commercial oil 

 as formed by a natural process. Messrs. Schimmel have shown 

 that in good samples of oil, such as the Gheong Loong and Yan 

 Loong brands, we may expect to find from 6 to 8 per cent, of 

 soft distillation residue, and in adulterated oils from 20 to 30 or 

 even 40 per cent, of a hard residue, indicating adulteration with 

 colophony. E. Hirschsohn {P/iann. Zeitsch. /, Russ,, 1890) has 

 proposed the following simple test for the oil:— If to a solution 

 of cassia oil in 70 per cent., alcohol in the proportion of 1 : 3 is 

 added, drop by drop, to half its volume, a solution (saturated at 

 the temperature of the room) of lead acetate in alcohol of the 

 same strength, it should show no precipitate, otherwise colophony 

 or a similar resin is present. For further information on the 

 adulteration of this oil, the reader is referred to the Berichte von 

 Schimmel 8f Co., Oct. 1890. 



Commerce. — The annual imports of Chinese cassia range from 

 about 15 to 20 thousand cwts. in alternate years. The greater 

 part of it is shipped from Hong-Kong to Bombay, some goes to 

 Calcutta, and a very small quantity to Madras. The following 

 tables show the imports and re-exports for 1884-85 : 



