u 



Report of Schimmel § Co. 1921. 





Menthol.— We take the following statistics on the production, prices and exports 

 nenthol and of oil of peppermint from Japan during the years 1919 to 1920 from 



of menthol 



an American report 1 ). 



Year N 



production 

 tons 



Menthol 



price 

 s per lb. 



total exports 

 tons 



Oil of Peppermint 



production price total exports 

 tons s per lb. tons 



K909 



— 



7.35 



60.35 



— 



4.7 







1910 



— 



8.8 



31.74 



— 



5.1 



— 



1911 



— 



15.5 



66.97 



— 



6.4 



41.16 



1912 



— 



21.2 



78.48 



— 



5.6 



39.79 



1913 



— 



19.3 



137.26 



— 



6.1 



75.55 



1914 



142.9 



9.2 



158.67 



145.8 



3.3 



92.57 



1915 



223.9 



8.5 



188.76 



257.0 



2.6 



75.80 



1916 



210.5 



10.1 



227.73 



241.6 



3.1 



104.13 



1917 



252.8 



10.0 



147.92 



254.2 



2.8 



68.26 



1918 



196.5 



14.4 



132.32 



232.4 



3.4 



68.46 



1919 



147.3*) 



31.6 



132.59 



89.3 2 ) 



7.2 



85.95 



1920 



118.3 2 ) 



43.0 3 ) 



7.95 2 ) 



118.3 s ) 



10.2 s ) 



11.36 3 ) 



Musk, Artificial. — In an article on solid, artificial odoriferous substances W. 

 H. Simmons 4 ) points out that the quality of artificial musk, coumarin and heliotropin 

 had deteriorated in England since the war, partly because the raw materials had not 

 been available in sufficient quantities, partly because the manufacture had been taken Up 

 by people not commanding the necessary experience. Whilst before the war the melting 

 points were 109 to 1 13° for xylene musk and 36° for heliotropin, they were now mostly not 

 higher than 105° or 35°. An ambrette-musk of a melting point between 60 and 90° would 

 correspond to the requirements which were now made for an average post-war article. 



Referring to this research by Simmons, W. E. Ellis 5 ) asserts on the strength of 

 experiments of his own, that the melting point of 110 to 113° which von Baur gives 

 for xylene musk cannot be correct. A pure preparation of Ellis, re-crystallised seven 

 times from alcohol, had a constant melting point 107.9°, and another sample obtained 

 from a first-class firm melted at 107°. 



Nitrobenzene. — We cannot often enough emphasise the poisonous character and 

 dangers of nitrobenzene. The following case will show very clearly how dangerous 

 can be the effects even of very small quantities of essence de Mirban. Linen which 

 had freshly been stamped with a dye containing nitrobenzene caused, according to 

 H. Ewer 6 ), poisoning in the cases of five babies, the symptoms being: blue discoloration 

 of the skin, superficial respiration, irregular pulse, vomiting, and clonic convulsions. 

 Bleeding had a good effect, inhalation of oxygen had no effect. 



D. M. Donovan 7 ) reports several cases of nitrobenzene poisoning of adults. Thus 

 sixteen people, then in military service, fell ill after wearing shoes dyed with nitro- 



!) United States Commercial Reports of Febr. 3, 1921. — 2 ) Inofficial estimate. — 3 ) January to June 1920. 

 — 4 ) Perfum. Record 11 (1920), 368. — 5 ) Ibid. 39b. — 8 ) Therap. Halbmonatsh. 35 (1921), 62. Berl. Uin. 

 Wochenschr. No. 38, 1920; from Pharm. Ztg. 66 (1921), 72. — 7 ) Journ. Americ. Med. Assoc. 74 (1920), 1467; 

 from Therap. Halbmonatsh. 34 (1920), 433. 



