— 133 — 



was 39 V 2 c.; on June 10, 1909, 38 V 2 c.; and on the same date of the present 

 year 56* /* c, while occasionally in the course of the past twelve months 

 the last-named quotation has even been exceeded. In the circumstances, 

 practically no sales of turpentine oil for delivery have been recorded, 

 consumers restricting themselves to the purchase of their absolute require- 

 ments of oil, in spite of which the total consumption has not been 

 affected in the least, as the stocks in producers' hands are very low. 

 On the basis of the statistics of receipts and deliveries at Savannah in 

 the periods between April 1 to June 10, 1909 and 1910, and of the stocks 

 in the principal markets of the world, it is estimated that in the course 

 of the present year an uncovered requirement of about 50000 barrels will 

 be felt, added to which this year's production of oil will probably show 

 a decrease. The anonymous author of the article declines on purpose to 

 express an opinion on the future course of prices; he only desires to let 

 the facts speak for themselves, and points out that in the past the prices 

 of oil have repeatedly, through unforeseen circumstances, been affected in 

 a direction absolutely opposed to that indicated by the statistics. 



A French Inspector of Forests, De Lapasse x ), publishes a comparative 

 review of the methods of collecting turpentine which are in use in France 

 and in the United States, a subject to which we have repeatedly alluded 

 in previous Reports 2 ). The object of the review, which is written in a clear 

 and informing manner, is chiefly to contradict a statement by Lemaire to 

 the effect that the newest American methods are superior to the French, 

 and we take from it a few interesting data concerning the "electrical" 

 method of collecting "turpentine oil", a method which, according to Le- 

 maire, "spares the trees, and makes it possible to obtain resin from 

 otherwise worthless refuse". In the "electrical" process the resinous wood 

 is broken up and submitted to direct heating in cast-iron retorts by 

 means of an electric current of 40 volts. The lower part of the retorts 

 is fixed in a brick-built furnace, the upper part, in which the wood is 

 placed, is removable and can be lifted by winding-tackle. Each retort 

 takes an average charge of half a ton of wood. The process of distillation 

 takes twelve hours; at first the temperature cannot be brought up above 

 170° and the oil which distils at this degree is known as "commercial 

 oil of turpentine". Between 170 and 375° hydrocarbons of higher boiling- 

 points and tar distil over; the residue being compact, well-burning charcoal. 

 The yield per ton of wood is said to be as follows: 60 1. turpentine oil. 

 (equal to from 90 to 95°/o of the oil-content), 160 kilos "colophony", 40 1. 

 heavy oils, 65 kilos tar, and 325 kilos charcoal. The energy consumed 

 by each retort is 90 kilowatt-hours, costing 0,90 franc per charge. 



*) Journ. Parfum. et Savonn. 23 (1910), 76. 



2 ) Comp. Report April 1906, 65; October 1907, 95; October 1909, 114, 116. 



