— 40 — 



should not be the case it will be impossible to maintain the present price 

 of celery oil, even if it should then be possible to procure any raw material 

 at all for distilling. 



Chamomile Oil, German. In the course of the winter we found an 

 opportunity of procuring a few small parcels of raw material well-suited 

 for distilling purposes, by which we were able to replenish our supplies 

 so favourably that we were enabled slightly to reduce our prices. We 

 are now in a position to quote special prices for important quantities 

 and we shall be glad to receive enquiries where such quantities are in 

 question. 



Chamomile Oil, Roman. The small output of last season is practically 

 exhausted, and those who have delayed covering their requirements until 

 the new crop will be compelled to pay very high prices indeed, always 

 assuming that they succeed in procuring a sufficient quantity at all. Our 

 stocks have shrunk to within a very small compass and during the last 

 few months we have been repeatedly obliged to advance our quotations. 



Champaca Oils. B. T. Brooks 1 ) has published an extensive paper on 

 genuine champaca oil from yellow flowers (from Michelia Champaca, L.) 

 an oil which has only lately been investigated by Bacon. The champaca 

 trees which grow in the neighbourhood of Manila are rather smaller than 

 the ylang-ylang trees. Their trunk has a diameter of from 8" to 20", 

 while in the Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya in Ceylon there are specimens 

 which measure from 3 to 6 feet in diameter. The trees are propagated 

 from seed or from cuttings. The seed should be sown in sand to prevent 

 it from rotting. In the year 1910 the trees flowered from the middle 

 of June until the end of October, but this is exceptionally long, and was 

 due to the comparative absence of rain during that period. The flowers 

 must be worked up immediately after collection, as they contain a ferment 

 which sets up an oxidising action, so that they turn brown in a short 

 time and lose their pure odour. The oil 2 ) which was prepared by Brooks 

 has the following constants: df§ 0,904 to 0,9107, n D30O 1,4640 to 1,4688, 

 ester v. after acet. 199. It cannot be fractionated in vacuo, as it resinifies 

 in the manipulation. Among the constituents of the oil Brooks found 

 cineole (m. p. of the iodol compound 112 to 114°). It may also contain 

 p-cresol-methylether, but it was impossible to establish the presence 

 of this body. When the oil was shaken with sodium bisulphite solution 

 benzaldehyde was isolated (m. p. of the phenylhydrazone 149 to 151 3,. 

 It is probable that another aldehyde is present in addition to benzaldehyde 

 but no further investigation was made on this point. As regards alcohols, 

 Brooks detected benzyl alcohol, which he identified by oxidising into benz- 



4 



x ) Philippine Journ. of Sc. 6, A. (1911), 333. 



2 ) The author does not state how he prepared the oil. 



