— 58 - 



aqueous filtrate, which fact pointed to the presence of the said ester. In 

 order to separate it 900 g. oil was extracted three times with 900 cc. each 

 time of water containing 5% alcohol, and of each of the aqueous filtrates 

 10 cc. was neutralised and saponified with seminormal potash liquor. The 

 consumption was: No. 1 1,19 cc, No. 2 0,40 cc, No. 3 0,25 cc. seminormal 

 potash liquor, hence the artificial ester which had been present in the oil 

 had been removed, except for some small residue. The three aqueous 

 solutions were evaporated to a small volume on the water-bath, and the 

 residue was subjected to fractional distillation in vacuo. At 5 mm. pressure 

 there passed over betweeen 125 to 130° a few grams of a somewhat thick, 

 yellowish liquid which was identified as glycerol ester by its properties 

 (di5o 1,1612; acid v. 4,9; ester v. 533,8; miscible with water and alcohol) 

 and other characteristics 1 ). As glycerol ester is not a natural constituent of 

 lavender oil, or, in fact, of any other essential oil, its presence can only 

 be accounted for as having been added intentionally. 



The constants of the extracted lavender oil were as follow: di 5 o 0,8970, 

 acid v. 0, ester v. 76,5, corresponding to 26,8°/ linalyl acetate. This low 

 ester content, taken in conjunction with the high specific gravity, warrants 

 the conclusion that the oil had further been adulterated with spike oil or 

 with some similar oil. 



An article on lavender-growing which has appeared in a French tech- 

 nical Journal 2 ) reproduces in the main the statements on the same subject 

 first published many years ago by Prof. Zacharewicz 3 ), of Avignon. We 

 have referred to this matter in a previous Report 4 ). 



A short paper by L. Lamothe 5 ) on lavender and its distillation also 

 consists in part of a repetition of the same author's earlier and much 

 more detailed statements issued in pamphlet-form 6 ); although on the 

 present occasion Lamothe goes into closer detail on the subject of the 

 distilling-practice. He proposes that the old stills should either be done 

 away with altogether and replaced by stills of modern pattern, worked, 

 perhaps, by steam, or modernised where this can be done without too 

 great a cost, thus improving both the quantity and the quality of the out- 

 put. Lamothe lays special stress upon the desirability of the lavender- 

 flowers not being in direct contact with the bottom and the sides of the 

 still, because, when they are, they are apt to get singed when there is 

 not enough water in the still, and this may injuriously affect the quality 

 of the distillate. He therefore recommends that the flowers should be 



x ) Report April 1911, 151. 



2 ) Parfum. moderne 4 (1911), 47. 



3 ) Culture de la lavande vraie. Bulletin mensuel du Syndicat Agricole Vauclusien 

 (1907), 230. 



*) Report April 1907, 62; October 1907, 58; April 1908, 65. 



5 ) Rev. de Grasse 54 (1911), No. 24. 



6 ) Lavande et Spic. A detailed abstract appeared in our Report November 1908 76. 



