44 



Report of Schimmel Q Co. April 1913. 



figures that we may either expect a considerable increase in the oil-supplies this year, 

 or that the native traders last year intentionally kept back large quantities in the 

 interior of Ceylon (as they were reported to be doing), in order to support the market 

 as far as they could by steadily representing the output to be small, and then 

 disposing of the small supplies brought forward at full prices. The figures quoted above 

 show that this manoeuvre has been successful, and the very marked increase in the 

 exports during the first few weeks of the present year would thus be explained. It 

 need hardly be added that in such circumstances it is difficult to form an opinion of 

 the future course of the market. 



Java Citronella Oil has become much dearer in the period under review. The 

 arrivals remain comparatively small and are steadily taken up by the consumption at 

 full rates. No doubt the market will remain firm so long as this oil is employed in 

 the chemical manufacturing industry in such quantities as has been the case all along 

 of late. 



In our last Report (p. 40) we described several methods which have been recommended 

 for the separate estimation of geraniol and citronellal in citronella oil, and in the 

 course of this notice we referred to the process devised by V. Boulez which at the 

 time had been communicated to us privately by the author. Boulez has now also 

 published his method in the Bulletin de la Societe chimique de France [IV. 11 (1912), 915]. 



In the meantime we have estimated the geraniol and citronellal contents of another 

 series of citronella oils according to various methods, and in the following table we 

 summarise the results of our investigations: — 



Nr. 



d x ,c 



0,8913 

 0,8859 

 0,8866 

 0,8868 

 0,8883 

 0,8925 

 0,8881 



0,9012 

 0,9016 

 0,9034 

 0,9039 

 0,9033 



2° 15' 

 1°45' 

 1°35' 

 1°22' 

 1°28' 



2°ir 



11° 22' 

 11°28' 

 11°40' 

 11°43' 



11°31' 



So-called 



total 



geraniol 



(est. by acet.) 



Geraniol 

 (phthalic 

 anhydride 

 method) 



Phenyl- 

 hydrazine 

 method (Kjeber) 



Citronellal 



Oximation 



method (Dupont 



and Labaune) 



JAVA OILS. 



35,3 p. c. 



35.3 „ 



36.4 „ 



33.5 „ 

 40,1 „ 

 35,9 „ 

 37,0 „ 



CEYLON OILS. 



85,4 p. 



c. 



87,6 „ 



88,7 



, 



88,0 



i 



87,5 



i 



84,7 



) 



91,0 



i 



54,1 

 57,2 



58,6 

 56,3 

 57,6 



p.c. 



30.7 p.c. 

 33,2 „ 

 30,0 „ 



29.8 „ 

 30,8 „ 



p.c. 



36,0 

 40,0 

 40,0 

 38,8 

 38,7 

 38,0 

 36,8 



11,4 p.c. 



11,0 

 11,6 

 10,8 

 11,5 



p.c. 



36,6 

 45,2 

 46,3 

 39,5 

 35,4 

 37,2 

 40,1 



7,9 p.c. 

 8,0 „ 



7.8 „ 

 6,7 „ 



7.9 „ 



Taking into account at the same time the values previously obtained by us 1 ) we 

 find in the case of Java citronella oil a geraniol content of 26,6 to 40,1 p.c. and a 

 citronellal content of 35 to 41,3 p.c. (phenylhydrazine method) or 35,4 to 46,3 p.c. 



') Beport October 1899, 18; April 19C0, 13; October 1912, 42. 



