— 6i — 



other hand many producers also refused to sell at the low prices 

 which ruled as a consequence of the abundant crop, and kept back 

 their holdings in the hope of a more profitable opportunity of dis- 

 posing of them. These expectations, however, have not been realised, 

 for, leaving out of account a slight improvement of the market which 

 made itself felt in the beginning of February, when several firms in 

 Grasse were compelled to cover themselves, and which has again been 

 perceptible lately, the article is, generally speaking, thoroughly neglected. 

 In the principal producing districts the winter was exceptionally severe, 

 and the snowfall the heaviest on record for forty years. In some 

 parts of these districts, people were cut off from the outer world for a 

 long time and several parcels of lavender oil which we had on the way 

 suffered considerable delay in transport. As a result of timely and 

 important purchases, we have been enabled to reduce our quotations 

 to some slight extent. 



We have previously referred to the observations ofBirckenstock 1 ) 

 on the effects exerted by the hybridising of Lavandula vera D. C. 

 and L. Spica D. C. upon the properties and the constitution of the 

 essential oil. 



The paper of H. L. Visser on the examination of lavender oils, 

 to which reference was made in our last Report 2 ), has called forth 

 some comments by W. J. de Maar 3 ). The latter agrees with Visser 

 that the Dutch Pharmacopoeia has fixed too low a maximum limit 

 (0,890) for the specific gravity of the oil, but he does not believe 

 that by demanding a minimum content of 3 5 °/ of linalyl acetate the 

 Pharmacopoeia will exclude the most of the lavender oils of com- 

 merce, because he himself has had no difficulty in obtaining oils 

 which fulfil this condition, provided he paid corresponding prices. 

 De Maar expresses his astonishment that Visser's experiences in 

 regard to this matter should have been so unsatisfactory, and that, in 

 spite of the abnormal properties of the commercial oils examined, 

 Visser should have had no doubts as to their purity. 



We should not again have referred to Visser's paper, were it 

 not that that investigator had in the meantime published in the Pharm. 

 Weekblad a contribution 4 ) in which, among other things, he seeks to 

 controvert our criticism. Visser maintains here that we have mis- 

 interpreted the object of his article, as the publication of his researches 

 was merely intended to show that lavender oils occur in the wholesale 



x ) Report October 1906, 43. 



2 ) Report November 1908, 80. 



3 ) Pharm. Weekblad 45 (1908), 1536. From a copy kindly sent to us. 



4 ) Pharm. Weekblad 46 (1909), 39. 



