— 53 — 



diluted with a little water and warmed for 15 minutes on the water-bath 

 with frequent shaking. We do not quite follow this argumentation. 



As already stated above, Kleber has also published a reply to the 

 articles of Parry and Umney, but a bare mention of this fact will suffice 

 here, as quotation would only involve repetition. 



In connection with the above we may briefly refer to a paper by 

 Th. H. Durrans 1 ) in which a special acetylation-method for Java citronella 

 oil is given, as in Durrans' opinion the method of Umney and Parry is 

 only applicable to Ceylon citronella oil. With regard to this we may 

 point out that the method described in our April-Report of last year 

 (p. 46) yields accurate results both with Ceylon and with Java oil. 



In the April number of The Tropical Agriculturist there appeared an 

 article by N. Wickremaratne on the citronella oil industry in Ceylon, of 

 which abstracts are given in The Chemist and Druggist [79 (1911), 443]. 

 From the last-named journal we quote the following details, in which 

 unavoidably a good deal of familiar ground is included. It is estimated 

 that there are at present in Ceylon 40000 acres under citronella grass, 

 the total number of stills in operation being about 500. Formerly the 

 principal centre of the industry was in the district of Galle, but at present 

 the cultivation of the grass is restricted to the district of Matara and part 

 of the district of Hambantota. Lena-batu grass is chiefly grown. It is 

 very hardy and yields the variety of citronella oil which is characteristic 

 of Ceylon. The seedlings are planted out at distances of from 1 to 2 feet 

 and after 8 months the grass is ripe for cutting, after which cutting can 

 be repeated every third month. It is done by women with an ordinary 

 sickle. The cut grass, after lying in the sun for a day to dry, is taken 

 to the distilleries. If it should be necessary to keep it there for some 

 time before it is distilled care must be taken not to stack it in high heaps, 

 as otherwise fermentation sets in, resulting in a loss. of oil. The distillation 

 is carried out on modern principles; earthenware stills, such as were 

 employed many years ago, are now scarcely seen. The size of the stills 

 varies greatly, their capacity ranging from 700 to 2000 lbs. of grass. 

 Ordinarily each plant has two stills, which are worked alternately so that 

 the distilling itself is not interrupted by the emptying and filling of each 

 still. Two charges are worked up daily, each distillation requiring about 

 six hours. The exhausted grass is used as fuel for the boiler. 

 t Cooling is done in the usual way, the length of the condensing-worm 

 varying from 30 to 60 feet. The oil separates from the water in the 

 receiver and is skimmed off with a cup, while the water, as in a Florentine 

 flask, runs off below. Before the oil is placed in tins for shipment it is 

 filtered several times. 



a ) Perfum. and Essent. Oil Record 2 (1911), 201. 



