20 Report of Schimmel $ Co. April 1913. 



According to a French Consular Report reproduced in the Deutsche Export-Bevue 

 the following toilet-soaps are most in demand among the Chinese in the port of Swatow 

 (Southern China): a French brand selling at 0,20 dollars; a German glycerin-soap 

 selling at 0,40 dollars the piece; "Magical soap", an English brand, at 0,10 dollars per 

 box of two pieces; and a Japanese brand called "Pet Dog" at 0,15 dollars the piece. 

 The use of laundry-soaps is increasing. The most popular English laundry-soap costs 

 4.50 dollars per box of 20 bars, or 50 lbs. The price of a bar of this soap is 0,30 dollars. 

 Some time ago the Compagnie Sino-francaise at Swatow made a successful attempt 

 to introduce Marseilles soaps. Other saleable toilet-articles are: New York vaseline- 

 pomade at 0,10 dollars per pot of 3 oz.; Japanese combs at 0,15 dollars, and British 

 and German combs at 0,30 dollars each; British shaving basins at 0,30 dollars each, 

 and British shaving-basins made of aluminium at 0,90 dollars. The dollar above referred 

 to is the Mexican Dollar of 24,438 g. fine silver, compared with the Haikwan Tael of 

 38,346 g. European perfumery is scarcely able to maintain competition with the 

 extremely low-priced Chinese and Japanese articles. In the year 1910 the value of 

 the imports of perfumery was 8263 H. Taels; in 1911, when trade was somewhat 

 disturbed owing to the political unrest, it was only 5456 H. Taels. 



The total value of China's perfumery imports in 1910 was 29 443 Haikwan Taels. 

 In 1911 it rose to 34 006 H. Taels. For 1912 no statistics are yet available. 



Before proceeding, as usual, to the consideration in detail of our various manu- 

 factures, we venture to express the hope that our Report in its new size (8 3 /4X674 in., 

 being No. IX of Ostwald's Universal or "Welt-Format", 16X22,6 cm) will continue to 

 enlist the interest of its readers. 



Commercial Notes and Scientific Information 

 on Essential Oils. 



Almond Oil, Bitter. The nitrile glucosides which occur in nature have hitherto 

 been described comprehensively as amygdalin; the possibility that, in addition to the 

 ordinary amygdalin, isomerides or stereomerides, as for example **so-amygdalin or neo- 

 amygdalin 1 ) might occur, having simply been disregarded. In order to clear up this 

 matter, L. Rosenthaler 2 ) has prepared the glucosides of the seeds of apricots, peaches, 

 plums, apples, and quinces and ascertained the following constants of each of these 

 bodies: melting point, specific rotation, molecular weight, nitrogen-content and optical 

 rotation of the mandelic acid obtained by the saponification of the glucosides. The result 

 of his investigations showed that all the data agreed with those for amygdalin and 

 that therefore the glucoside contained in the seeds referred to is identical with the 

 amygdalin of bitter almonds. 



With the object of isolating the glucosides, Rosenthaler has boiled the seeds, 

 after freeing them from fat, with alcohol. He has further tested the seeds containing 

 amygdalin for the presence of glucosides of the type of mandelonitrile glucoside. For 

 this purpose he regards Bourquelot's method, in which any saccharose which may be 

 present is decomposed with invertin, as unsuitable, because, in his view, invertin not 

 only decomposes the cane-sugar, but also the amygdalin. 



l ) Comp. Report October 1907, 13; Report October 1909, 19. — 2 ) Arch, der Pharm. 250 (1912), 298. 



