— 56 — 



for it has been ascertained that considerable quantities of oil of last year's 

 distillation were still available. Moreover, the consumption proved to be 

 less considerable than might have been expected from the experience of 

 the last few years. The reports that only very little seed has been har- 

 vested last autumn in all producing centres have been confirmed. 



Costus root Oil. This oil, which as is well known was first pre- 

 pared and made available for perfumery purposes by us, has for a long 

 time been entirely wanting in the market, because the high prices of the 

 raw material precluded distillation. Recently, however, there have been 

 brought to market in India a few parcels of root the manufacture of which 

 promises to be, at any rate in some degree, remunerative. We have se- 

 cured a considerable quantity of this root, and we shall therefore again 

 be able to supply fresh costus root oil in the course of a few weeks. 

 The oil is purified by us by a special process, by which it loses the rank 

 odour which it possesses in the original state. There is practically no 

 prospect of a return to the old low prices. Assuming the root to yield 

 a normal proportion of oil, the selling value will presumably be at least 

 550 oM. per kilo, as compared with 350 <M previously. 



Cubeb Oil. No alteration whatever has taken place within the last 

 half year in the high range of quotations for cubeb oil. Notwithstanding 

 this fact, however, we have had an extraordinarily strong demand for the 

 oil, and it was therefore very fortunate for us that we had still a con- 

 siderable supply of old oil at our disposal. The imports of cubebs con- 

 tinue to remain smaller than the requirements, while the United States 

 are still in the market at full rates. 



Curcuma Oil. We quote below the constants of a curcuma oil 

 prepared in the Philippine Islands by F. Bacon 1 ), the yield of oil from the 

 raw material being about 2,4 °/ . The oil was of a brown colour, soluble 

 in any proportion in alcohol of 75% or stronger: df§ 0,930, « D30 o 8,6 

 (+?) rw> 1,5038, ester v. 81. 



An oil distilled by ourselves (yield 3,23%) gave the following con- 

 stants: d i5 o 0,9430, « D — 23°, n D20 o 1,51236, sap. v. 1,6, ester v. 7,8, ester 

 v. after acet. 30,0. This oil, which was of a golden yellow colour, was 

 insoluble in 10 vols of 80% alcohol, but soluble in 0,4 vol. 90% alcohol. 

 It gave a pronounced phellandrene reaction. . 



Curcumone, to the preparation and properties of which we have re- 

 ferred in previous Reports 2 ), has lately been oxidised again by H. Rupe and 

 A. Steinbach 3 ), with the result that the authors have established three 

 constitutional formulas which may be taken into consideration for the ketone. 



J ) Philippine Journ. of Sc. 5 (1910), A. 261. 

 2 ) Report April 1908, 36; October 1909, 53. 

 *) Berl. Berichte 43 (1910), 3465. 



