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oil. These oils are not only very moderate in price, but they possess 

 all the properties which render them for many purposes fully equivalent 

 substitution-products for the natural oils. Our synthetic bergamot oil, 

 with an ester content of about 38 p. c. (ordinary pure Calabrian bergamot 

 oil only contains about 35 p. c. of ester), is a specially successful pre- 

 paration, and meets with general approbation. Its appearance upon the 

 market has contributed in keeping the value of genuine bergamot oil to 

 some extent within reasonable limits. We cannot abstain from giving a 

 word of commendation to these excellent substitution-products, of which 

 we shall be glad to supply samples. 



Almond Oil, pressed, from Almonds (German Pharmacopoeia V). 



According to all the reports which are to hand the almond crop in Apulia 

 and Sicily promises to turn out well. If, in spite of this, the prices 

 remain at the same level as before, the principal reason is probably that 

 the producers have lately made good profits out of the article, and are 

 therefore in a position to maintain an attitude of reserve. On the one 

 hand there are no sellers, and on the other there is a lively demand on 

 the part of consumers; in fact, it is said that considerable transactions 

 of new crop almonds for future delivery have already been concluded at 

 high prices. Our fixed almond oil, pressed by ourselves, has undergone 

 no change in price of any kind during the past summer, and under the 

 conditions described above there is no present likelihood of any reduction 

 in the quotation. But if within the next few months larger supplies of 

 almonds should be brought to market than can be disposed of among the 

 consumers, it is probable that the quotations of our oil will also recede. 

 We have already repeatedly pointed out that great caution is necessary 

 when purchasing almond oil. "Cheap" oils are always suspect, and 

 samples of such should be sent to our laboratory for examination before 

 the purchase is concluded. 



Almond Oil, pressed, from Apricot kernels. As already pointed 

 out in our last Report, the prices of prime quality Damascene apricot 

 kernels had receded to 65 cS per 100 kilos in the spring, owing to the 

 favourable result of the 1911 crop, and we had already based the selling- 

 prices of our apricot kernel oil upon this figure. Since then the prices 

 Hfeave remained unchanged at approximately the same level. More recently 

 also, when it was definitely known that the result of the new crop would 

 not exceed a low average yield, the prices, with the exception of some 

 slight fluctuations, have not on the whole gone beyond the quotation 

 mentioned above. It would appear that the French and Italian traders 

 have supplied themselves very abundantly last year; at any rate in April 

 and May there were still very considerable stocks left over in Marseilles. 

 O f late, France has again come into the market as a buyer, and has 

 thereby given it a somewhat firmer tendency. In view of the low average 



