420 ODOROGRAPHIA. 



AVe determined the sp. gr. to l»e 1'0463 and the aldehydic 

 content 92 per cent. 

 h. ''Cassia leaves. The dried, leather-like leaves with the strong- 

 petioles and small twigs. On mastication of leaves and 

 petioles separately, both communicated a faint but pure 

 taste of cinnamon, whilst the twigs exhibited strong 

 cinnamon taste. 



" In order to olttain exact results, we caused a certain 

 quantity of the material to be sorted into leaves and 

 stalks. 100 kilos of material yielded 85 kilos of leaves 

 and 15 kilos of small twigs. On distillation the leaves 

 yielded a beautiful sweet-smelling oil of sp. gr. I'OoG at 

 15° C. The aldehydic content was determined as 93 

 per cent. The thin twigs showed a less percentage of 

 essential oil than the leaves, but this possessed a similar 

 sweet taste to the oil from the leaves. The sp. gr. was 

 1-45 at 15° C. The aldehyde amounted to 90 per cent, 



" The following parts of the cassia plant have been distilled by 

 us with the appended results : — 



" 1. — Cassia bark, the ' Cassia Lignea ' of commerce. 



Yield of essential oil 1-5 per cent. Sp. gr. 1-035. 

 Aldehyde content 88*9 per cent. 



" 2. — Cassia-buds, the Flores cassice immaturoj of commerce. 



Yield of essential oil 1*550 per cent. Sp. gr. 1*026. 

 Aldehyde content 80*4 per cent. 



" 3. — Stalks of the cassia-buds (' bud-sticks '). 



Yield of essential oil 1*64 per cent. Sp. gr. 1*046. 



Aldehyde content 92 per cent. 

 " 4. — Cassia leaves, leaf-stalks and young twigs mixed. 



Yield of essential oil 0*77 per cent. Sp. gr. 1*055, 



Aldehyde content 93 per cent. 

 " Nos. 1 and 2 are completely excluded as raw materials for the 



preparation of Cassia oil on account of the price. 

 " Xo. 3 is also out of the question, because the vakie, about $4 



per picul, is still higher than that cf broken cassia? 



and because the yield w^ould not be sufiicient. It can 



therefore be assumed that the Cassia oil of commerce is 



distilled in China from the leaves, leaf-stalks and young 



