- 56 - 



What was striking in the oil was the extremely low index of 

 refraction ( n r>20° I >4 OI 89), which in pure palmarosa oil lies between 

 1,472 and 1,476 (20 °). The further examination now led to the 

 surprising result that the oil contained about 20 °/ ethyl alcohol 

 (compared with alcohol of 90 per cent, by vol.), and for the rest 

 was probably a mixture of palmarosa and citronella oils, or consisted 

 of fractions of these two oils; to this pointed on the one hand the 

 odour, and on the other the specific gravity (d^o 0,9095) and re- 

 fractive index ( n D20° i j477°3) of the oil freed from alcohol, which 

 are both too high for palmarosa oil. The small quantity of the sample 

 at our disposal was unfortunately not sufficient to follow this matter 

 up further, and we are consequently unable to supply a direct proof 

 in support of the surmise expressed above. 



The adulteration is interesting, above all inasmuch as we have 

 here the rare case that it was first of all discovered merely by the 

 abnormal index of refraction. 



From a paper by D. Hooper on the manufacture and export 

 of Indian essential oils, of which an abstract has appeared in The 

 Chemist and Druggist 1 ) we take the following interesting points which 

 in a certain measure may serve as a supplement to the information 

 given on p. 34 of the present Report. 



The distillation of palmarosa oil (from Cymbopogon Martini Stapf) 

 is to-day carried on in precisely the same primitive manner 2 ) as 

 80 years ago. Each distillation lasts about 6 hours. The yield of 

 one still in 24 hours is 1 "seer" (about 933 grams), and during the 

 whole season i 1 ^ maunds or 80 quarts of oil. As places of 

 distillation, only Pimpalnur came at first under consideration, subsequ- 

 ently Nandurbar, Shahada, and Talada; the Nimar district has 

 always been an important centre, and the oil was called "nimar" oil 

 directly after it. Recently the manufacture in the British Central 

 Provinces and in Berar has increased considerably, and at present 

 it is also carried on in the districts Hoshangabad, Betul, Mandla, 

 and Seoni. The Forestry Department draws a considerable income 

 from the letting of the rusa grass districts; in some districts it comes 

 to as much as 10 000 rupees. In Berar the oil distillation is carried 

 out in the districts Akola, Ellichpur, Amraoti, Buldana, Basim, and 

 Wun. The principal market for these oils is the town Ellichpur, 

 whilst Bombay is the shipping port of all palmarosa oils; during the 

 last 10 years the following quantities of oil — chiefly palmarosa oil 

 — have been exported from there: — 



1 ) Chemist and Druggist 70 (1907), 207. 



2 ) Comp. Gildemeister and Hoffmann, The Volatile Oils, p. 282. 



