— 2 9 — 



to Bacon, also perhaps formic acid, which have an even more de- 

 composing action upon esters than boiling water. Distillation water, 

 which is rich in oil, should be distilled by itself, and all the water 

 which has evaporated from the still should be replaced by pure water. 

 Finally, owing to the weak distillation, the mass of distilling material 

 in the still will generate steam without being thoroughly stirred up 

 and kept in motion. Hence it is probable that parts of the flowers 

 will adhere to the bottom of the still kept hot by the fire, and will 

 burn to it, which would impart to the oil a sharp and more or less 

 acrid odour. 



It is very probable that it would be possible to obtain ylang ylang 

 oil from cananga flowers in Java if the flowers were not crushed, 

 and if, instead of water distillation, distillation by water -and -steam 

 were applied; in the manner, for instance, in which the Chinese distil 

 the camphor wood in Formosa and the Siamese the fruit of star anise 

 in Tonquin. In such cases quick distillation and consequently an 

 efficient cooling apparatus are necessary; the distillation of one charge 

 of the still should not take more than a few hours. 



The principle of distillation by water -and -steam is that the 

 charge in the still rests upon a perforated bottom, between which and 

 the bottom of the still there is water, which is separated from the 

 charge itself by a space in which steam can circulate. The water 

 may be brought to boiling either by heating with fire, or by a 

 closed steam-worm. By means of a tube at the bottom of the still the 

 evaporated water is replaced by pure water during the process of 

 distillation. The quantity of the water of distillation which is collected 

 is a certain indication as to when and how much water should be 

 added to the still. At the end of every distillation the still should 

 be emptied of water. 



Prof. Preuss 1 ) reports that experimental distillations of the flowers 

 of Cananga odorata made in New Guinea have yielded highly satis- 

 factory results. The flowers gave 0,98 °/ of oil and there is a pro- 

 spect that the oil production will increase. A cananga oil which has 

 been sent to us from New Guinea for examination, showed the follow- 

 ing constants: d i5 o 0,9143, a D — 2i°2o / , ester no. 24,1; soluble in 

 half its vol. of 95 per cent, alcohol; when the solution is diluted with 

 alcohol of the same strength it becomes turbid. 



Caraway Oil. For the present the reports from the producing- 

 districts in Holland agree that the prolonged winter has in no way 

 damaged the plants, but has only retarded their growth, with the 

 result that they promise to develop all the stronger and more vigorous 



*) Berichte d. deutsch. pharm. Ges. 19 (1909), 25. 



