60 Report of Schimmel § Co. April 1913. 



operations immediately showed the oil-content to be very poor, and both on this 

 account and because the crop was small in respect of quantity, the output has been 

 very restricted and the manufacturers have found it unprofitable to work up the fruit 

 for oil. It is true that the price of sweet orange oil (which, owing to the lack of 

 supplies on the spot, had been maintained at about 18.50 o4t during the summer months 

 and even up to the commencement of the new manufacturing season) fell at the 

 commencement of the crop to 16.50 c4i and that during this period a few contracts 

 for delivery were concluded at that figure, but a reaction soon set in again and caused 

 the quotations to advance in a few leaps and bounds to 18.50 o^, while as early as 

 the middle of December the value of the oil had risen to 20.50 &M. 



The poor manufacturing results compelled the makers to cease their work earlier 

 in the season than usual, and as almost at the same time a number of enquiries for 

 sweet orange oil were received in our market, an upward tendency was thoroughly 

 justified. Under the influence of this tendency the value of sweet orange oil advanced 

 in the course of December and January and during the first ten days of February up 

 to 25 cS. The market then took a duller tone for a few days, after which the quotation 

 again advanced to 25 c4l. 



The stocks which are still held in this country at the present time are unusually 

 small and a decline in the value of this oil is therefore hardly to be expected, rather 

 is it fairly certain that until the arrival of the new crop the market will be dominated 

 by a firmer tendency. 



So far as concerns the next crop, the orange trees, like the other essence-yielding 

 trees, are far advanced as compared with other seasons. The foliage is thick and 

 healthy and the flowering promises to be particularly profuse. But even the certainty 

 that the next crop will be plentiful would probably not affect the course of prices of 

 the old oil, as the existing supplies are much too small. If, however, the new fruit 

 matures well and without untoward incidents the prices of the new season's oil for 

 future delivery will certainly be considerably affected and it may be assumed that in 

 that case the new oil will be obtainable at cheap rates. 



Bergamot Oil. On the constitution of bergaptene see page 149. 



Lemon Oil. It was to be expected that owing to the present high prices of lemon 

 oil a good deal of adulterated oil would be placed upon the market, but from the 

 numerous samples of sophisticated lemon oil which have been tested in our laboratory 

 during the last few months, we are driven to the conclusion that the practice of 

 adulteration has assumed previously unheard-of dimensions. In most instances turpen- 

 tine oil was the adulterant, but spirit, mineral oil, lemon oil terpenes, and carvene or 

 orange oil terpenes were also encountered. It is possible that in the case of a few 

 of these samples the oil consisted of a more or less successful synthetic product, for 

 many firms of repute may be tempted to pass off a cheap substitute as a natural oil, 

 or at any rate to use it as an adulterant. We have heard that a Paris firm already 

 well-known in this connection is making direct offers of such a preparation in Sicily 

 for fraudulent purposes. In many instances, however, the "art" of concoction has 

 reached such a height that its products are quite unrecognisable as lemon oil. 



We have brought together the characters of the samples in question in the table 

 printed below, mentioning the adulterant in the case of each particular oil. For the 

 rest we may leave the analytical values to speak for themselves, only referring briefly 



