— 43 — 



In regard to citronella oil the statement is of interest that Winter's 

 assertion, according to which Maha Pengiri was brought to Ceylon from 

 Malacca 1 ), is due, by Winter's own showing, to his having confused 

 citronella grass with lemon-grass. A letter from Winter's grandfather, 

 written in 1850, further discloses the fact that the latter commenced 

 the distillation of citronella grass in 1839. This industry quickly 

 developed so enormously that about the year 1850 the annual 

 sale of oil in London exceeded SB 3-000, the price being then 

 1/- per ounce. 



With regard to the differences between Maha Pengiri and Lenabatu, 

 Jowitt expresses the view that the two grasses differ not only in leaf, 

 flower, and odour, but also in the peculiarity that the roots of Maha 

 Pengiri are more on the surface, while Lenabatu is more deeply rooted. 

 He therefore designates the two plants respectively as "surface feeder" 

 and "deep feeder". For the distillation of the grasses Jowitt used a 

 copper still of a capacity of 115 to 120 lbs., surmounted by a dome- 

 shaped helrn, the object of which was to avoid the passing -over of 

 oxidation- and resinous products of high boiling-points. In order to 

 prevent the singeing of the distilling material, the still was provided 

 with a sieve-bottom, which was held in its place in a most primitive 

 manner by placing it on two blocks of wood. Direct heat was applied, 

 and the distillation was a so-called water distillation. The grass was 

 reaped in the evening before it was distilled, and was placed whole in 

 the still, as there was no advantage in cutting it up. For a full charge 

 of grass, 30 gallons of water was added, but when the charge of grass 

 was less, the addition of water was not proportionately smaller; for 

 instance, for 50 lbs. of grass 25 gallons of water was used. Each 

 charge requires 4 hours to distil, the water which passes over first of 

 all being returned to the still. Several tables are added giving details 

 of the oil-yield of the various grasses, and for these, as well as other 

 details, we refer to the original paper. 



We are now able to add a few details in completion of the ref- 

 erences to the preparation of citronella oil in the Malay Peninsula 

 which were made in our April Report of 1908 2 ). These details are 

 taken from a paper by B. J. Eaton 3 ), Government Chemist of the 

 Federated Malay States, dealing with a locally produced distillate. 

 The oil under examination came from Perak, and in its general 

 behaviour corresponded to Java oil. The colour was a pale yellow, 

 the total geraniol content was 82,4 °/ , of which 27,7 was geraniol 



*) Chemist and Druggist 52 (1898), 646. See also Report April 1907, 32. 

 *) Report April 1908, 35. 



3 ) Agric. Bull, of the Straits and Fed. Malay States 1909, no. 4, p. 142. 

 According to Chemist and Druggist 75 (1909), 21. 



