Notes on scientific research. 123 



Great results are anticipated from the cultivation of geranium and lavender in 

 Mexico. Dolley is of opinion that the natural conditions in that country are exceptionally 

 favourable to the production of odoriferous plants. 



At a meeting of the Royal Commission on Resources and Trade of the Dominions 1 ), 

 at which the possibility was discussed of cultivating aromatic plants in various parts 

 of the British Empire, a brief reference to the abovementioned experiments was also 

 made by one of the experts present. 



In a contribution on the chemistry of essential oils, Augustin Murua y Valerdi 2 ) 

 discusses the syntheses of their constituents. He also, in numerous tables, passes in 

 review the majority of the bodies which have been found to exist in essential oils, 

 giving the structural formula, the natural distribution and the constants of each 

 compound. The author concludes his article with the following passage: 



"In 1901 France exported essential oils to the value of over 11000 000 francs, 

 Germany to the value of over 8 000 000 marks, the United States for over 

 5000000 francs, Japan (in the year 1907) over 10000000 marks' worth of camphor, 

 Bulgaria (in 1908) 2000000 marks' worth of rose oil, and the Philippines ylang- 

 ylang oil to the value of 2203 600 pesetas. In view of such figures it is incomp- 

 rehensible why Spain has remained so backward in an industry for which its soil 

 and climate are so exceedingly suitable; it would seem as if our capitalists had 

 exhausted themselves in the manufacture of textiles and beet-sugar. If I should 

 succeed, by this publication, in drawing your attention to a source of revenue of 

 such importance for the welfare of our nation, my efforts will not have been in 

 vain. But the fact should not be lost sight of that scientific work must always 

 precede industrial and commercial activity; that it is in our High Schools that the 

 foundations are laid for a truly progressive and independent national industry, and 

 that so long as these schools, owing to their bureaucratic character and the 

 general indifference of the nation, remain unfruitful, the efforts of our educated 

 classes will remain vain and our industry will remain restricted to the limits of 

 our own country, unable to compete in the markets of the world. So long as 

 these conditions persist we shall not reconquer the glorious part which belongs 

 to us and which at one time we played upon the world's stage". 



J. C. Umney and S. W. Bunker 3 ) have continued their investigations into the solubility 

 of water in essential oils. They took essential oils saturated with water as well as 

 dry essential oils, placed them both in completely-filled and in half-filled bottles, and 

 kept them for six months, some in the dark and some exposed to daylight, the con- 

 stants of the dry and of the wet oils being estimated both before and after keeping. 

 The following oils were examined: nutmeg, juniper berry, lemon, orange, sandalwood, 

 savin, citronella (Ceylon and Java), palmarosa, lemongrass, cassia, cinnamon leaf, clove, 

 and thyme. Generally speaking, the sp. gr., rotation and refractive index of the terpene 

 oils undergo a change in keeping. The alcohol-content is somewhat reduced by storage, 

 the difference being more clearly expressed in the case of the wet than of the dry 

 oils. As regards the oils containing aldehydes, it is impossible to draw up any generally 

 applicable rules. Of the oils containing phenols, those which had been kept in daylight 

 showed the greatest increase in sp. gr. and refractive index. 



x ) Chemist and Druggist 81 (1912), 643. — 8 ) Memorias de la Real academia de ciendas y cartes 10 (1°13), 

 No. 16. — 3 ) Perfum. and Essent. Oil Record 3 (1912), 325; 4 (1913), 4, 3S; Report October 1912, 12S. 



