— 26 — 



no camphor separated from them, which shows that that substance 

 cannot be present in any considerable quantities. Watts andTempany 

 also state that in his annual Report for 1906 1 ), Consul Play fair pointed 

 out that the occasional absence of camphor from the oil was ascribed 

 by many theorists to the circumstance that only those camphor trees 

 which grow near the coast attain their full development 2 ), while others 

 declare that male and female camphor -trees grow isolated and that 

 only the former contain camphor. PI ay fair considers the last-named 

 theory to be incorrect, as the flowers of Cinnamomum are polygamous. 



Cananga oil. The firmness which characterised the past autumn 

 has now given way to a certain dulness, due to larger supplies, increase 

 of the consignments to European markets, and lack of desire for 

 buying. We have thus been enabled to reduce our quotations somewhat. 



From a report by A. W. K. de Jong 3 ) referring to an official visit of 

 inspection made by him to Serang, we take the following information 

 on the production of cananga oil in Java: As the distilleries are at 

 a distance from the plantations, the flowers have to be carted to 

 them. The distilling apparatus into which the flowers (which have 

 previously been pounded) are placed, consists of a copper boiler, 

 fitted with a tube through which water may be poured during the 

 process of distillation. The boiler is connected with the condenser by a 

 copper helm. The copper cooling tube, which has a diameter of 

 about 6", is connected diagonally with a large earthenware pot con- 

 taining the cooling water, which is not renewed by a constant inflow, 

 but is only replenished when necessary. In the place of Florentine 

 flasks, wine bottles are employed as receivers for the distilled oil. 

 These bottles have a small hole in the kick and are placed in a 

 copper basin filled with water in such a way that the neck of the 

 bottle protrudes above the rim of the basin. The basin, in its turn, 

 is placed on a earthen dish, in order to catch the water that flows 

 over from the copper basin during the process of distillation. This 

 water is returned to the still. Every parcel of flowers is continuously 

 distilled for two days, and during the second day the cooling is only 

 done imperfectly. 



In Manila an ylang ylang oil is prepared from cananga flowers 

 which is worth ten times as much as the oil prepared in Java from 

 similar flowers, and it would therefore be desirable to ascertain whether 

 the more valuable variety of oil could not also be obtained from the 

 Java flowers by fractionation. The investigations which were set on 



1 ) Diplomatic and Consular Reports No. 3913, August 1907. 



2 ) Compare Report April 1908, 23. 



3 ) Teysmannia 1908, 578. Batavia. From a copy kindly sent to us. 



