350 BROOKS. 



original oil suffered considerable saponification during steam distillation 

 at ordinary presure. Accordingly, a sample of ylang-ylang oil wliicli had 

 been prepared by extraction with petroleum ether, was boiled with water, 

 under a return condenser, for five, hours. Although the distillation of 

 ylang-ylang flowers ordinarily lasts 5 hours or more, the conditions of 

 this experiment are more severe than those obtaining in practice, except 

 perhaps when the distillation water is continually returned to the still. 



Five grams of oil and 15 cubic centimeters of water were used in the experi- 

 ment. The flask containing the mixture was heated by an oil bath kept at 105° 



to 110°. At the end of 5 hours the aqueous solution was titrated with — 

 « 10 



caustic soda solution and the saponification number of the oil was also deter- 

 mined. A decrease in the saponification number of only 4 units was observed. 

 A sample of first quality distilled oil, having an ester number of 112, showed a 

 decrease of 2 units when treated in the same way. For the purpose of com- 

 parison, 8.0 grams of benzyl acetate were treated in the same manner. After 



N 

 5 hours' boiling, the aqueous solution required 32 cubic centimeters of — caustic 



soda for neutralization, corresponding to a decrease in the ester number of the 

 oil of about 22 units. 



Therefore, it is most probable that the high ester number of first 

 quality, distilled, ylang-ylang oils and the low numbers of second quality 

 oils are due to the fact that considerable fractional separation is effected 

 b)^ steam distillation and that no considerable percentage of the esters 

 originally present are saponified. As suggested by Bacon,^^ the difference 

 in quality between the extracted and distilled oils probably is due to the 

 alteration, of constituents which are present only in very small amount 

 and also to the acquisition of deleterious odors which owe their origin to 

 decomposition in the flower tissues themselves during the distillation. 



During the past season, 15 samples of ylang-ylang oil have been 

 examined in the chemical laboratory, of the Bureau of Science. The 

 maximum ester number found was 151, and the minimum 83.2. Two of 

 the samples were graded as second class. 



ACACIA PAENBSIANA (l.) WILLD. 



It is interesting to note that Acacia farnesiana (L.) Willd., which 

 bears the well knovni cassie flower, has been introduced into the Philip- 

 pines and now grows wild over a large part of the Archipelago. In 

 certain places this shrub, or tree, grows in dense thickets, and when in 

 flower the air in the vicinity is very fragrant. It is possible that it would 

 pay to cultivate this flower here. The perfume factories of southern 

 France pay 3.5 to 5 francs per kilo for the flowers, which is equal to about 

 1.40 to 2 pesos, Philippine currency. Unskilled Philippine laborers are 

 paid from 80 centavos to 1.00 peso per day, while boys may be hired for 

 light tasks for very much less. 



'^ Loo. oit. 



