— 70 — 



every respect justified, and that offers of cheaper Mitcham peppermint 

 oils cannot apply to qualities equal to that of ours. It is hardly necessary 

 to add that the unfavourable result of the crop is due to the abnormal 

 heat and drought of the summer. 



H. J. Henderson 1 ) reports that in England it has been shown by ex- 

 periment that the oil-yield of peppermint plants grown in damp, shady 

 places is much smaller than that of plants grown in the open field. The 

 peppermint plants which were the subject of Henderson's experiment were 

 grown on a river bank and distilled before flowering. They yielded 0,1 °/o oil 

 possessing the following constants: d 0,9046, « D — 27°, combined menthol 

 3,9 °/o, free menthol 55,3 °/o, total menthol 59,2°/o. At the same time, 

 Henderson distilled peppermint grown in the open on heavy loam. This 

 yielded 0,409°/o: d 0,9065, « D — 27,4°, combined menthol 5,57°/o, free 

 menthol 55,78%, total menthol 61,35%. Plants grown in the open field 

 on deep sandy loam only yielded 0,19% essential oil (d 0,9046; « D — 28,2°; 

 combined menthol 4,74%; free menthol 54,72%; total menthol 59,46 °/o). 



Peppermint Oil, Hungarian. K. Irk 2 ) has examined samples of 

 Hungarian peppermint oils 8 ) and found them to possess the following 

 properties: d 15o 0,90142 to 0,9157, d 20 o 0,89705 to 0,92, « D20O — 26,51 to 

 — 32,40°, n D20O 1,4632 to 1,4666, sol. in 2 to 4 vols. 70% 4 ), in 1 to 2 vols. 

 80% and in 0,5 vol. 90% alcohol; ester content 10,098 to 16,26%, esterified 

 menthol 7,97 to 12,82%, menthol 42,815 to 55,38%, total menthol 56,48 to 

 65,19%, menthone 7,379 to 13,21%. 



Peppermint Oil, Italian. L. Bourdet 5 ) gives the following constants 

 for two Italian peppermint oils produced at Pancalieri, near Turin: di 5 o 0,915, 

 a D — 22°56' to 26°51'. The samples were soluble in 2,9 vols. 70% alcohol 

 and in an equal vol. of 80% alcohol. Both oils solidified in a freezing- 

 mixture, a property which had not previously been observed in the case 

 of Italian oils 6 ). 



Peppermint Oil, Japanese. The state of excitement in the Japanese 

 peppermint oil and menthol markets which we reported in April has not 

 continued very long, especially as certain firms made it their particular 

 business to undersell the market with cheap menthol stocks which they 

 held trom previous seasons. We heard reports, for instance, of recrystallised 

 menthol being quoted as low as 35 c4i per kilo at the same time when, 



x ) Chemist and Druggist 79 (1911), 216. 



2 ) Kiserletugyi Kozlemenyek 13 (1910), 4. From a reprint kindly sent to us. 



3 ) Comp. Report April 1911, 91. 



4 ) With the exception of two samples. 



5) Bull. Sciences pharmacol. 18 (1911), 392. 



u ) For previous data given by us on Italian peppermint oils, comp. Report October 190*2, 66 ; 

 April 1903, 59; November 1908, 100. 



