— 50 — 



alcohol, nerol, d-citronellol (but only in the form of acetic and of w-butyric 

 ester), geranyl acetate and a high-boiling lasvorotatory hydrocarbon C15H24. ^ 



It is certain that neither linalool nor valeric acid can be counted 

 among the constituents of the oil. 



On p. 35 of our last Report we commented upon certain criticisms 

 to which an acetylation-method for citronella oil, published in The Chemist 

 and Druggist, had been subjected by C. Kleber. It would appear that the 

 English chemists concerned in the matter have been far from edified by 

 Kleber's criticism, and still less by the fact that we had been so bold as 

 to reproduce its essential features in our Reports, for soon after the publi- 

 cation of our last Report, articles appeared in two English journals 1 ), and 

 subsequently in an American publication 2 ), in which our arguments were 

 contradicted in a more or less aggressive manner. Before dealing further 

 with the contents of these articles, we desire to place on record that it 

 is our practice to refer to the published work of other authors purely from 

 an impartial standpoint, taking as our sole guide the importance of the 

 publication, and disregarding altogether whether our references are or are 

 not palatable to third parties. This principle will also continue to guide 

 us in the future. 



Our rejoinder to the comments of the English chemists may be com- 

 pressed within a fairly brief compass, since all these comments are written 

 from the same point of view, and differ from each other only in the tone 

 in which they are couched. With regard to the latter, Mr. Umney, the author 

 of the article in The Perfum. and JEssent Oil Record, undoubtedly carries 

 off the palm, for the spiteful manner in which he treats not only the sub- 

 ject under discussion, but also other parts of our Report, is surely without 

 parallel. In fact, we should have altogether abstained from replying to 

 him, were it not that this might be construed as an admission on our 

 part that Mr. Umney's criticisms were justified, and that we do not admit 

 by any means. 



Both Umney and Parry continue to defend the standpoint that in the 

 course of the process of acetylation, water is formed, and in proof of 

 this, Umney even sets up a chemical equation which as Kleber 3 ) ob- 

 serves very pertinently in a rejoinder dealing with the same subject, looks 

 very fine on paper, but unfortunately does not correspond with the facts. 

 For in reality it is not two molecules of alcohol, as Umney and Parry 

 believe to be the case, but one molecule which reacts with 1 molecuk 

 acetic anhydride, giving rise to the corresponding ester and acetic acid. 

 In this process, therefore, no water is formed at all, hence the added 



a ) Chemist and Druggist 79 (1911), 749; Perfum. and Essent. Oil Record 2 (1911), 259. 



2 ) Parry, Americ. Perfumer 6 (1911), 227. 



3 ) Americ. Perfumer 6 (1911), 228. 



