126 



rarely observed in London, -but more frequently in the North of 

 England. 



Vetiver Oil. Our unrivalled distillate from picked roots was 

 in good demand, as usual, and we were able to supply sufficient 

 quantities of it. The cheap Reunion variety has been offered plenti- 

 fully, and when its producers complain of the low prices realised by 

 the article, they must blame no one but themselves for this unsatis- 

 factory state of things. In the first .7 months of 1909, 741 kilos were 

 exported as compared with 275 kilos in the corresponding period 

 of 1908. Over-production is here, as elsewhere, the order of the day. 



As reported by Bacon 1 ), vetiver or cuscus grass is also found in 

 the Philippine Islands, where its roots are known to the natives as 

 moras or raiz moras. A few sample distillations from root grown in 

 experimental plantations gave the following result : Yield of the fresh 

 crushed root: 1,09 °/ of a pale yellow oil. In order to separate 

 the water better from the oil, which has almost the same specific 

 gravity, petroleum was added, which was afterwards distilled off in 

 vacuo. The oil possessed a strong, agreeable odour, and had the 

 following constants; d|o 0,9935, « D30O -{-32,1°, n D30O 1,5212, sap. 

 no. 47,4. Green root, not previously crushed, yielded upon distilla- 

 tion 0,3 °/ of oil, dried root, uncrushed, when extracted with ligroin, 

 gave 0,25 °/ of oil with a very faint vetiver odour. Dried root which 

 had been kept in sacks for 3 months, when distilled continuously by 

 steam, with cohobation of the water, gave 0,456 °/ of a brown, oil 

 of powerful odour, possessing the following constants: d^- 0,9964, 



a D30° -f- 3 2 > l0 > n D30° I >5 1 63, sap. no. 60,6. The experimental distil- 

 lations were conducted with material varying in quantity from 65 to 

 175 lbs. The yield of root per acre is stated to be about 7200 lbs. 

 The oil-content appears to increase up to the flowering time of the 

 grass, and it would therefore probably be desirable to harvest and 

 distil the roots when they are not more than three months old. The 

 plants are propagated by dividing the roots ; it has not been attempted 

 to raise them from seed. According to Bacon the root can be distilled 

 locally just as well as abroad, but in our opinion it would probably be 

 more advantageous, from the point of view of the preparation of the 

 oil, to ship the roots, because the rational distillation of the root is 

 only possible with the resources of a large distilling establishment. 



Bacon succeeded in detecting the presence of several acids in the 

 oil. From 100 g. of the last-clescribed oil he obtained by saponif- 

 ication, 19 g. of an acid mixture whose odour reminded of fatty acid. 



l ) Philippine Journ. of Sc. 4 (1909), A, 118. 



