— 53 — 



pogo?i Schoenanthus, and which therefore (in agreement with the East 

 Indian distillates) should have been palmarosa oils, but which had a 

 much greater resemblance to lemongrass oil. Similar observations have 

 also been made in the laboratory of Roure-Bertrand Fils at Grasse 1 ), 

 and the view here represented, that the same plant yields in one case 

 an oil rich in geraniol, and under other conditions produces an oil 

 which contains in a preponderating degree the corresponding aldehyde 

 citral, has a great deal of probability in its favour. 



Ch. J. Sawer now has set himself the task of clearing up the 

 existing contradictions as much as possible by a thorough botanical 

 study of the andropogon grasses, with simultaneous reference to the 

 literature on the subject, — an enterprise worthy of acknowledgment, 

 which has unfortunately been suddenly interrupted by Sawer' s death 

 in August last. 



It is seen from Sawer' s work 2 ) that the solution of the question 

 under discussion is attended with great difficulties, as the andropogon 

 grasses are plants which show fairly large variations, which renders a 

 differentiation between the individual species much more difficult. This 

 applies especially to Andropogon Schoenanthus L. To this should be 

 added that many sub-species, varieties, and also forms of transition 

 are in existence. In consequence of this, confusion of the individual 

 species may easily occur, but on the other hand, the oils yielded by 

 the different varieties also show differences in their properties and 

 composition, which explains why it is not always possible to draw a 

 definite conclusion from the oil as to its mother-plant. Moreover, 

 climate and nature of the soil, and (especially in the case of citron- 

 ella oils), the time at which the grass is cut, are said to have an 

 important influence on the oil. 



Sawer next describes the individual kinds of grass, and discusses 

 citronella grass and lemongrass. This part amounts in the main to a 

 classification of the botanical literature dealing with these grasses, and 

 for this reason we refrain from entering into it in detail. For greater 

 clearness a number of characteristic illustrations are added. But Sawer's 

 work shows at any rate that among the botanists who have made a 

 special study of the andropogon grasses, differences of opinion on the 

 nomenclature of the individual mother -plants also exist. Moreover, 

 several grasses have not yet been determined at all with certainty from 

 a botanical point of view, as for example Indian citronella grass, West 

 Indian lemongrass, etc. 



It may be interesting to mention here that in Java lemongrass oil 

 is called sireh, but the same name is given, there to the Javanese 



J ) Report of Roure-Bertrand Fils, Grasse, April 1904, 40. 

 2 ) Citronella and Lemongrass. Chemist and Druggist 65 (1904), 179. Comp. 

 also the publication by J. C. Willis relating to this subject, ib. 478. 



