— 90 — 



during the coming season, but this much is certain, that the weather 

 during the winter has not been unfavourable for the plants and that there- 

 fore the first condition precedent for a normal yield of the current year's 

 crop has been fulfilled, 



Peppermint Oil, English. The tendency of this variety of oil is 

 also firm, our information being that in England the stocks have dwindled 

 to the smallest quantity. It is therefore within the bounds of possibility 

 that Mitcham peppermint oil may also be drawn into the upward move- 

 ment, and our advice to our friends therefore is to secure their require- 

 ments, at any rate for the next 3 or 4 months. We regard it as im- 

 probable that the article will go down in price after the new crop, because 

 it is said that even at the rates now ruling the producers are scarcely 

 able to make good their expenses. 



Peppermint Oil, French. From dry peppermint -leaves which had 

 fallen during the growing-time of the plant (Mentha piperita), J. Muraour 1 ) 

 has obtained 0,4 fo 0,5 °/ of a yellow oil of which the odour reminded of 

 Japanese peppermint oil, and which gave the following constants: 



Sample 1 Sample II 



d 15 o 0,913 0,911 



« D —38° 18' — 40° 4' 



Menthyl acetate 33,16°/o 40,31 °/ 



Total menthol 43,99 °/o 45,67 °/o 



Soluble in 1,5 vols Soluble in 2,5 vols 



80°/o alcohol. 80% alcohol. 



According to Muraour, distillates of this kind are sometimes added 

 to French peppermint oil prepared from normal material. For the latter 

 the author gives the following limits of value: di 5 o 0,918 to 0,920, <* D — 6 

 to —11°, menthyl acetate 7 to 10%, total menthol 43 to 46%, soluble 

 in 1 to 3 vols. 70% alcohol and in 2 vols. 75% alcohol. Muraour quotes 

 6 instances in which he suspects the admixture of such inferior oils, ba- 

 sing his suspicions on the partly lower sp. gr. and inferior solubility of 

 these oils, but chiefly on their greater rotation and higher menthyl acetate 

 content. 



In connection with the above we should like to point out that the 

 limits of value which are laid down by Muraour for French peppermint 

 oil do not apply to that oil all round, for both we 2 ) and Roure-Bertrand 

 Fils 3 ) have distilled from normal material French peppermint oils in which 

 the constants deviated considerably from Muraour's limits of value. For 

 example, we have observed rotations up to — 35° 18' and an ester con- 



*) Bull. Soc. chim. IV. 9 (1911) 66. 



2 ) Report April 1905, 62; October 1906, 58. 



3 ) Berichte von Roure-Bertrand Fils October 1908, 23; Report April 1909, 76r 



