— 37 — 



alcohol and more. Only in exceptional cases does the diluted solution 

 show opalescence. 



In our last April Report 1 ) we called attention to the occurrence of 

 dextrorotatory citronella oils, a phenomenon which had never previously 

 been observed. An oil of this kind is also referred to in the Buitenzorg 

 Annual Report for 1907 2 ). It had an optical rotation of -j-o°45' 

 and a specific gravity of 0,87. 



The experimental cultivation of citronella grass in the German 

 Pacific Islands having been crowned with success, and resulted in 

 the production of oils of good quality, closely approximating Java oil, 

 we now gather from a paper read in Berlin by Prof. Preuss 3 ) that 

 A?idropogon Nardus (author?) is to be more extensively cultivated, as 

 its distillation has already been taken up on a large scale. From a 

 specimen sent for our examination we have been able to satisfy our- 

 selves of the good quality of the sample distillates. The specimen 

 examined has the following characteristics: di 5 o 0,8819, «r> — o° 46', 

 n D20° 1*46278; joint content of geraniol and citronellal 85,9 °/ , soluble 

 in 1,3 vols, and more of 80 per cent, alcohol. 



Clove Oil. In concordance with the general condition of business, 

 the sales of this important article dragged greatly, and remained 

 restricted within the limits of a moderate turnover for consumption. 

 No factors of any kind were present which might have induced 

 to speculative undertakings, and thus all influence upon the clove 

 market on the part of our industry was wanting. Particularly severe 

 price-cutting in clove oil was again to be observed in London, but 

 this "privilege" of our English colleagues is so generally known that we 

 do not feel called upon to refer to it again at length on this occasion. 

 It is not surprising that these cheap "clove oils" should sometimes 

 exhibit remarkable properties. 



As is our custom in our April Report, we will begin by reproducing 

 the information supplied by the German Consulate at Zanzibar: — 



Clove exports from Zanzibar in 1907. 

 The exports of cloves from Zanzibar were as follows: — 



Weight in pounds Value in rupees 



1904 .... I4502775 4986449 



1905 .... 15312952 4306090 



1906 .... 15 105 760 5349545 



1907 .... 18214668 5941817 



The exports of cloves in 1907 amounted to 39% °f tne tota l exports. 



') Report April 1908, 32. 



2 ) Jaarboek van het Departement van Landbouw in Nederlandsch-Indie 1907, 67. 

 Batavia 1908. 



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



