— 36 — 



normal Ceylon cinnamon oils and are therefore not authoritative so far 

 as their properties are concerned. Basing ourselves upon plentiful ex- 

 periences gained in the course of many years, we are able to assert 

 positively that normal Ceylon cinnamon oil possesses a specific gravity 

 of from 1,023 to 1,040, and contains from 65 to 76°/o cinnamic aldehyde. 

 We are, furthermore, of opinion L ) that cinnamic aldehyde is not the con- 

 stituent which determines the value of Ceylon cinnamon oil, but that in 

 the case of this oil it is exactly the non-aldehydic constituents which are 

 the more valuable. By analogy this statement applies to the other oils 

 mentioned above; that is to say, bay oil, pimento oil, and dill oil. Hence 

 the direct estimation of the value of these oils by the percentage pro- 

 portion of their chief constituent would be contrary to common sense, 

 nor is it all the fact that, say, Ceylon cinnamon oil is regarded as being 

 the more valuable in proportion as it contains more cinnamic aldehyde. 

 The fact is, however, of importance that the quantitative determination 

 of the chief constituent in question affords an additional aid to the dis- 

 covery of sophistications, and that not only (as has been very properly 

 recognised by the English chemists), of sophistications by which the pro- 

 portion of the chief constituent concerned is reduced, but also of such 

 by which it is increased. 



The quantitative determination of the cinnamic aldehyde content of 

 Ceylon cinnamon oil, therefore, also serves the purpose of disclosing any 

 addition of cassia oil or of synthetic cinnamic aldehyde which may have 

 taken place. But as a basis for such tests both minimum and maximum 

 limits of value are necessary, and in order to determine these it is ob- 

 vious that only such oils should be taken into account as possess the 

 full cinnamic aldehyde content, but not such as cannot be regarded as 

 normal (for instance, the English oils referred to above), for the latter 

 practice would lead to wrong conclusions. 



Cinnamon Oil, Mauritius. We gather from the Journal of the Im- 

 perial Institute-) in London that a cinnamon bark is collected in the 

 Island of Mauritius which, in the judgment of the dealers, more or less 

 equals a good Seychelles-cinnamon. Distillation by steam yielded 0,8°/o of 

 an oil which to all appearance was of good quality, but of which the 

 available quantity was insufficient to permit of an examination. 



Cinnamon leaf Oil , Mauritius. According to a communication 

 from the Imperial Institute in London, cinnamon leaves from Mauritius 

 were found to yield 1,1 °/o oil, which unfortunately could not be more 

 closely examined owing to the small quantity available, but which, judging 

 by the odour, was of good quality. It is the intention of the Imperial 



b. Gildemeister and Hoffmann, The Volatile Oils, p. 380. 

 [Imp. Inst. 8 (1910), 2. 



