28 Report of Schimmel $ Co. 1921. 



of 1500 m. on warm and sunny spots, whilst L. delphinensis thrives at lower altitudes 

 on woody slopes. 



One of the largest centres of the lavender industry is near Sault de Vaucluse, 12 km. 

 southwest of the Ventoux. Here both the wild-growing plant and the plant cultivated 

 in the fertile valleys of Sault are being utilised. 



The spike lavender, Lavandula latifolia, Vill., is as widely spread in the south of 

 France as the true lavender. The former, however, thrives only at lower altitudes in 

 regions facing north, as in the territory between Millau and Roque Ste. Marguerite and 

 Montpellier-le-Vieux or near Buis-les-Baronnies. 



As the lavender oils are differentiated both by their contents of linalylacetate and 

 by the fineness of the aroma, the question has arisen whether the character of the oil 

 depends merely upon the botanical variety or also upon ecological and other factors. 

 As regards L. officinalis and L. latifolia, Humbert considered it to be established that 

 the differences between the two plants, due to their botanical origin, were also decisive 

 for the peculiarities of their essential oils. More difficult, and not yet sufficiently clear 

 would be the question in the case of the numerous sub-species of L. officinalis. Light 

 and moisture have a strong influence upon the formation of morphological modifications. 

 On the other hand the differences in the soil, the climate and the altitude are not without 

 importance for the character of the oil. The same kind of lavender which, in one district, 

 yields an oil of a special character, need not necessarily give exactly the same oil 

 on another spot. 



It has, further, long been known that climate and season and their variations in- 

 fluence both the quality and the quantity of the essential oils of lavender. In wet years 

 the yield of oil, as well as the ester contents, are low. From cultivated lavender we 

 might obtain twice as much oil as from the wild plant. 100 kg. of fresh cultivated 

 flowers are said to have given 1 kg. of oil. 



The lavender plant is very common in the mountains of Morocco, on the Atlas. 

 The variety which is there found growing in hardy shrubs 1 ) yields an oil which is highly 

 esteemed and which is prepared by water distillation in a kind of peripatetic fashion 2 ). 



We have recently been consulted respecting an oil of lavender which had been 

 sold by a Munich firm as "genuine and pure", but which had proved useless when 

 applied in the keramic industry. The examination showed that we had to deal with 

 an oil which was either strongly adulterated, or altogether an artificial product. It had 

 the following constants:— d i5 o 0.9242; « D — 0°16'; not completely soluble in 10 vol. of 

 70 per cent, alcohol; acid v. 0.7; ester v. 94.3 = 33.0 per cent, of ester calculated as 

 linalylacetate; sap. v. 95.0; acid v. II 89.6; difference between sap. v. and acid v. II 5.4; 

 difference of the ester value in fractionated saponification 27.1; glycerin acetate test, 

 positive. The oil is evidently much too heavy, of too low a rotation and of quite in- 

 sufficient solubility. From the excessive difference of the ester values which were found 

 in the fractionated saponification (normally 5 at the most) we presume an addition of 

 terpenylacetate to an extent which, we deduce from former observations 3 ), probably 

 amounted to 15 or 20 per cent. 



A further possible adulterant would be glycerin ester. This seems to have been 

 used more sparely; for the analysis would indicate only 3 or 4 per cent, of glycerin 



x ) It is not clear whether Lavandula vera or L. spica is spoken of; both occur in Northern Africa. The 

 term "hardy" suggests L. spica. — 2 ) Rev. des produits chim. 22 (1919), 647. — 3 ) Cf. Gildemeister and Hoff- 

 mann, The Volatile Oils, 2 nd ed., vol. Ill, p. 70. 



