— 150 — 



Civet. E. Charabot and A. Hebert 1 ) have published a contribution on the 

 examination of civet. Having examined four samples of civet in the 

 manner described in detail by Hebert' 2 ) on a previous occasion, they came 

 to the conclusion that civet of normal quality should respond to the 

 following requirements: — When dissolved in a mixture of alcohol and 

 ether less than 6% residue should remain behind; the saponification 

 number 3 ) of civet should exceed 100, and the fatty acids which are se- 

 parated out from the saponified civet after acidulation with sulphuric acid 

 should exceed 50%. Of the four samples under examination three answered 

 these tests. 



Copal. From a Benin copal Kahan 4 ) has obtained a yield of 2,7° o 

 of an essential oil, boiling between 180 and 256°. The oil constituted a 

 waterwhite, colourless, very mobile liquid which underwent no change 

 upon prolonged exposure to the air. From Accra copal also the author 5 ) 

 obtained a yield of 8°/o essential oil, boiling between 164° and 266°; b. p. 

 of the principal fraction 250 to 257°. 



Coumarin. In the course of the summer the position of this im- 

 portant odoriferous substance has undergone an alteration, inasmuch as 

 the coumarin syndicate has reduced the conventional price by 10°/o, in order 

 to put a stop to the frequent underbidding of foreign competitors in the 

 wholesale trade. It remains to be seen whether this reduction has effected 

 its object; but in any case the article is now so cheap that if the prices 

 were further reduced it would hardly be possible for the manufacturer to 

 make a reasonable profit. 



La Parfumerie moderne, in its issue of July 1910, p. 77, deals with 

 Liatris spicata Willd. (N. O. Composite), a native of North America, which 

 N. Davin has successfully endeavoured to cultivate at Marseilles. It is 

 true that the plant contains less coumarin than does the familiar Li,atris 

 odoratissima Willd., but it is nevertheless very serviceable for scenting 

 tobacco, linen, and as a perfume for domestic purposes generally. Lia- 

 tris spicata is a perennial, which is propagated in May by dividing the 

 shrubs. The stalks bear a profusion of leaves and sprout from a bulbous 

 rhizome, the leaves are narrow, entire and alternate. 



Up to the present the attempts to acclimatise Liatris odoratissima. the 

 allied species, have not been successful. 



Geraniol. Owing to the lack of all varieties of geranium oil, the 

 demand for this important article, — the preparation of which in che- 

 mically pure quality is one of our specialities — , was at times so brisk 



x ) Bull. Soc. chim. IV. 7 (1910), 687. 



2 ) Ibidem III. 27 (1902), 997; Report April 1903. 



3 ) This obviously refers to that portion of the civet which is soluble in alcohol ether. 



4 ) Arch, der Pharm. 248 (1910), 439. 

 *) Ibidem 443. 



