— 107 — 



H. Zwaardemaker has obtained very remarkable results in his 

 olfactometric experiments with muskone 1 ). He observed that various 

 substances differ very considerably from each other in respect of their 

 capacity for absorbing the muskone odour from an atmosphere saturated 

 with muskone vapours, and that in some substances the acquired 

 characteristic muskone odour in the course of time gradually changes 

 into an odour which resembles more the musk-aroma. The further 

 study of these occurrences was made with a solution of muskone in 

 odourless myristic acid prepared by us at Mr. Zwaardemaker' s 

 request 2 ). The myristic acid contained 0,62 7 °/ muskone. From 

 this myristic acid possessing the muskone odour, Zwaardemaker 

 made an olfactometric cylinder 4 inches long by 5/ 16 th inch diameter. 

 In order to test the behaviour of various substances towards the muskone 

 odour, this olfactometric cylinder was connected with cylinders of the 

 same size of porous porcelain, arc lamp carbon, ebonite, steel, iron, 

 aluminium, silver, sulphur, tin, copper, nickel, glass, lead containing tin, 

 and pure lead, and a uniform current of air (84 cc. per second) was 

 passed through each during 5 minutes. 



The tests with the various cylinders now showed that porcelain, 

 carbon, and steel had acquired no muskone odour at all; that the 

 other substances, and especially tin, copper, nickel, glass, and lead, 

 showed a distinct absorption of odour which during the first few 

 minutes and even hours had an undeniable muskone character, but 

 gradually changed into one more like musk, until it finally resembled 

 the musk odour completely. 



This conversion of the odour-quality applies particularly to tin, 

 copper, nickel, glass, glazed porcelain, lead containing tin, and pure lead. 



An increase in the strength of the absorbed odour was also 

 apparent, for example in the case of lead, the maximum occurring 

 after three times 24 hours. In the course of time the substances 

 examined lost the acquired odour again completely. But the various 

 substances do not lose the odour with equal rapidity; thus, whilst 

 iron loses the odour already in a few minutes, with lead this occurs 

 only after 11 to 1 2 days. Similar experiments were then made with 

 solutions of ion one and skatol, when it was found that these 

 odoriferous substances behave in a manner different from muskone; 

 ionone attaches itself principally to substances which do not absorb 

 muskone at all — for example steel; skatol adheres best to aluminium, 

 which shows only a feeble tendency to attract muskone. 



1 ) According to reprints kindly sent us: "De absorptie van muscongeur tegen 

 vlakten van verschillend material". Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen te 

 Amsterdam 1907, 31, 139. 



2 ) A solution of muskone in Paraffinum liquidum was found to be odourless. 



