— 21 — 



E. Bocker and A. Hahn 1 ) have recently discovered a crystalline lactone 

 of the rough formula Ci 5 Hi 6 3 in the last runnings of angelica root oil. 

 From a last runnings of 200 g. they obtained 10 g. lactone which, when 

 recrystallised from ethylic ether and light petroleum had a m. p. of 83°. 

 It boils without decomposition at 250: « D ±0°. It is soluble neither in 

 cold nor in hot aqueous soda- or potash-liquor, but dissolves in hot 

 alcoholic potash-liquor. The lactone is an unsaturated body; when brom- 

 inated in a glacial acetic acid solution it yields a dibromide, which, when 

 recrystallised from glacial acetic acid, melts with decomposition at 143 

 to 145°. With hydrochloric acid it forms a hydrochloride, m. p. 101°. 

 Attemps to prepare the free hydroxyacid were fruitless. The authors con- 

 clude from the stability of the lactone and its tendency to reconstitution 

 after saponification that it is a /-lactone. 



Anise Oil. The second anise fair was opened on 24 th September 

 at Alexejewka, and suffered from unfavourable conditions, in so far as 

 owing to the exceptionally bad weather a large number of farmers abstain- 

 ed from attending, thus the quantity brought to market was correspon- 

 dingly light. Although the principal buyers kept aloof, an advance in the 

 prices from R. 2,35 to R. 2,65 per pood could not be prevented, for the 

 farmers showed extreme disinclination to accept any offers made by the 

 buyers. All their other crops had been good, and consequently they were 

 not particularly eager to dispose of their stocks of anise. About 100 wagons 

 were sold, and at the conclusion of the fair about one-half of the total 

 output still remained in the hands of the producers. According to the 

 report of our informant about 3 million kilos had been sold up to the 

 end of January, the greater part of which had been exported, and in 

 addition to this about 300000 kilos remained at that time in the hands 

 of the farmers and the middlemen. In spite of its somewhat unattractive 

 appearance, last year's anise turned out to be very rich in oil, and the 

 oil prices have therefore on the whole remained extremely advantageous 

 in comparison with the value of the raw material. It is only within 

 the last few weeks that an upward movement in the quotations has been 

 perceptible, but, as is invariably the case, this movement is likely to be 

 kept within certain bounds by the competition of pure anethol. 



Oil of Araucaria Cunninghamii , Ait. 2 ) This conifer, known as 

 "Hoop", "Colonial" or "Moreton Bay Pine", occurs on the Northern Coast 

 of Australia, in N. S. Wales, and in Queensland. The oil from the leaves, 

 distilled in November, (yield 0,005 °/o) possessed the constants: d 2 io 0,8974, 

 n D210 1,4977, sap. v. 4,4= l,54°/ ester CH 3 COOCi Hi 7 , insoluble in lOtimes 

 its vol. of 90°/o alcohol. Apparently the oil consists of high-boiling 



*) Journ. f. prakt. Chem. II. 83 (19?.!), 243. 



2 ) Baker and Smith, A Research on iht Fines of Australia, Sydney 1909, p. 318. Also 

 comp. the present Report, p. 148. ,lAC 



