— 136 — 



of from 2 to 4 units. Brooks seeks to explain the differences in quality 

 between ylang-ylang oils of the first and of the second class by a slight 

 decomposition of the esters during the distilling of the flowers. 



Two ylang-ylang oils which had been received by the firm of 

 Roure-Bertrand Fils 1 ) from Mayotte showed the following differences in 

 constants: d 15 o 0,9594 and 0,9651, « D — 53°56' and — 45°16', acid v. 1,3 

 and 1,4, ester v. 129,7 and 131,6, ester v. after acetylation 167 and 180,8, 

 soluble in 1 vol. 95% alcohol, cloudiness ensuing when more alcohol was 

 added. A third sample gave the unusually low optical rotation of — 4°4'. 



Zedoary Seed Oil. It has not yet been possible to procure supplies 

 of this oil, but consumers appear to have reconciled themselves to the 

 lack of the article, for the demand has entirely ceased. 



New Essential Oils. 



Oil of Aframomum angustif olium. From the seed of a species of 

 cardamoms indigenous in German East Africa, of which a sample had 

 been sent to us from Usambara, we obtained by distillation 4,5% of a 

 colourless oil possessing the following characters: d 15 o 0,9017, « D — 16° 50', 

 n D 2oo 1,46911, acid v. 0,4, ester v. 4,2, sol. in 6 vols. a.m. 80% alcohol. 

 So far as aroma is concerned it cannot compare with Ceylon cardamom 

 oil, and owing to its high cineole-content it reminds rather of cajuput oil. 

 Unfortunately the quantity of oil placed at our disposal was too small to 

 enable us to estimate its constitution with any exactitude. Botanical 

 examination of the entire fruit showed that the seed was derived from 

 Aframomum angustif olium, K. Schum. 2 ) (N. O. Zingiberaceae), a plant which 

 occurs also in Madagascar and in the Seychelles Islands. 



The Cameroon-cardamoms 3 ), which yield an oil similar in every respect 

 to the above, and wich also closely resemble the Usambara-fruit in ap- 

 pearance, are (according to a special definition made by our authority, 

 Dr. Giessler) derived from another species, viz., Aframomum Daniellii, 

 K. Schum. (Amomum Daniellii, Hook. f.). Sadebeck's 4 ) assertion that 



1 ) Berichte von Roure-Bertrand Fils, October 1911, 43. £ 



2 ) According to K. Schumann's monograph on the Zingiberaceae (Engler's PJlanzenreich, 

 Part 20), the following are synonymous : Amomum angustif olium, Sonnerat, A. madagascariense, 

 Lam., A. nemerosum, Boj. and A. sansibaricum, Werth. This nomenclature does not quite 

 agree with the Index Kewensis, but the latter is no longer authoritative so far as concerns 

 the matter here at issue. 



3 ) Comp. Gildemeister and Hoffmann, The Volatile Oils, p. 319. 



4 ) Sadebeck, Kulturgewachse der deutschen Kolonien (1899), p. 171. 



