k — 85 — 



When nitrated, the acid yields a mixture of nitro-derivatives from which 

 2-nitro-3-methoxybenzoic acid (m. p. 249 to 250°) may be separated out 

 without difficulty. When reduced this acid is converted into 2-amino- 

 3-methoxybenzoic acid, of which the hydrochloride has m. p. 204 to 205°. 

 The free acid, when heated with methyl iodide in a sealed tube at 100°, 

 yields the hydriodide of 2-methylamino-3-methoxybenzoic acid. This is 

 converted into the corresponding hydrochloride (m. p. 210 to 211°) by 

 warming with freshly-precipitated silver chloride ; this hydrochloride being 

 identical with that of damasceninic acid. Passing hydrogen chloride into 

 the methyl alcoholic solution of the hydrochloride gives rise to the hydro- 

 chloride of a methyl ester, from which latter, by the splitting-off of hydro- 

 chloric acid, methyl-2-methylamino-3-methoxybenzoate = damascenine 

 (m. p. 23 to 24°) is formed. When mixed with the natural product, the 

 synthetic damascenine suffers no depression of m. p. The hydrochloride 

 of damascenine has m. p. 156°, the picrate, 158 to 159°. The result of 

 these investigations has shown that the formula C9H11NO3, assigned to 

 the alkaloid by Pommerehne 1 ) is incorrect, while the formula C10H15NO3, 

 which was assumed by Schneider 2 ), almost corresponds with the actuality. 

 The so-called methyldamascenine which has been isolated from the seed 

 of Nigella aristata by Pommerehne and Keller 3 ) is identical with damascenine. 



Nutmeg Oil. Nutmegs of qualities suitable for distilling have occasion- 

 ally been very scarce, but thanks to our important stocks of cheap oil we 

 have so far been able to avoid raising our prices. It is difficult to fore- 

 cast the future of the article, the market being entirely dependent upon 

 the consignments which are sent for auction to Amsterdam and the course 

 of prices being subject to the general tendency of the spice-market, which 

 is influenced by quite a number of factors. In any case the present 

 position must be described as firm. 



Oil of Ocotea (Mespilodaphne) pretiosa. A paper by G. Laloue 

 on oil of Mespilodaphne (Ocotea) pretiosa, Nees, which has recently appeared 

 in the Bulletin de la Societe chimique [IV. 11 (1912), 602], and which had 

 previously been published, in October 1910, in the Berichte of Roure- 

 Bertrand Fils, was referred to in our Report of April 1911, p. 83. 



Origanum Oil. The distillation and sale of origanum oil in the 

 island of Cyprus, which have been carried on for over 10 years by the 

 Department of Agriculture there, will in the future be taken up by a private 

 distiller. The quantity of oil produced in the year 1910 amounted to 

 2842 lbs. 4 ). 



*) Arch, der Pharm. 238 (1900), 546; 239 (1901), 34. Comp. Report April 1901, 42. 



2 ) Pharm. Zentralh. 31 (1890), 173, 191. 



3 ) Arch, der Pharm. 246 (1908), 1. Report April 1908, 73. 

 *) Bull. Imp. Inst. 10 (1912), 148. 



