75 



ro London 663 1 / 2 



cases 



„ Liverpool 860 



;? 



„ Havre 213 



yy 



„ Marseilles 163 j 1 ^ 



)> 



„ Hamburg 215 



?> 



„ New York 1166 



?' 



Total 4755 



cases 



against 6082 



„ in tr 



» 6239 



J5 }) ' ) 



« 2259 



}}. J? ? 



in the corresponding period of 1907/8, 



„ 1906/7, 

 „ „ i9°5/ 6 - 



Although, therefore, the shipments during the last season have 

 fallen much behind those of the two previous years, it was not possible 

 to drive up the prices, a fact which sufficiently proves that the output 

 is more than enough for the normal requirements of the world. This 

 applies with the more force because supplies are also to be expected from 

 other quarters, and these will contribute to affect adversely the value of the 

 article, unless, indeed, new sources of consumption should be discovered. 



Of the heavy imports which were consigned to London not many 

 years ago from the West Indian Islands, a few small parcels are still 

 floating about. In dealing with some of these several months ago it 

 was observed that whereas at the time of importation analysis showed 

 them to contain 8o°/ and more of citral, the same parcels contain 

 to-day about io°/ less of citral than when they were first analysed, 

 a circumstance which is said to have led to various claims, as the 

 parcels concerned had been resold under the old guarantee. 



A lemongrass oil which has been sent to us from the Comoro 

 Islands resembled in its general behaviour the so-called West Indian 

 oils, such as are produced not only in the West Indies but also in 

 Brazil, Africa, Java etc. In spite of its high citral content, which by the 

 bisulphite method was found to be 83 °/ , it only gave a clear solution at 

 first even in go / alcohol, and when more alcohol was added pronounced 

 turbidity ensued. The optical rotation was o, the sp. gr. at 1 5 was 0,89 14. 



Two samples sent to us by Mr. J. H. Burkill, of Calcutta, and dis- 

 tilled by himself, belonged to the same group of lemongrass oils; their 

 properties are enumerated below: — 



According to a written communication by Mr. Burkill the grass which 

 formed the raw material came from the district of Jalpaiguri in Northern 

 Bengal, sample I having been distilled locally and sample II in Calcutta. 



I. di 5 o 0,8954; «p — o°28 / ; aldehyde content g6°/ (bisulphite 

 method) or 84% (sulphite method) 1 ). 



*) With regard to the difference in aldehyde-content by the two methods see 

 Report November 1908, 83. 



