72 Report of Schimmel § Co. 1921. 



then paid in London 45 to 40/- per lb. a yield of 25 per cent, of thymol, realisable in 

 the preparation by the method of Smith and Penfold (by the oxidation of piperitone, 

 ferric chloride and glacial acetic acid) would promise a good clear profit (something 

 like 16/- per lb. of thymol) 1 ). 



L. Thimm 2 ) recommends thymol palmitate for the disinfection of the intestines, 

 especially in cases of dysentery. The saponification of the ester takes place in the 

 intestines, and the thymol liberated acts without any poisonous effects, except in the 

 case of to very sensitive persons. Similarly thymol palmitate has been recommended 

 by F. Munck 3 ) as a remedy against trichinosis. 



When the trichina? have already penetrated into the muscles Kahn 4 ) used sub- 

 cutaneous or intramuscular injections of a six per cent, solution of thymol in olive 

 oil with success. 



According to E. Edens 5 ) the continued application of even very small quantities of 

 thymol may injure the thyroid gland in sensitive persons and lead to their losing flesh. 



An injection anaesthetic called "novorenan" which is recommended by Muller- 

 Stade 6 ) has the following composition: — novocaine 0.01 g., suprarenin hydrochloride 

 (1 s=b 1000) one drop, thymol 0.001 g., physiological sodium chloride solution ad 1 cc. 



Three per cent thymol spirit (prepared with 60 per cent, alcohol) is according to 

 the experience of C. Hirsch 7 ) a good and harmless skin disinfectant. 



The ethyl and methyl ethers of thymol are with intravenous injection in 10 percent, 

 solution much less poisonous than thymol itself. On the other -hand, thymol sodium 

 is more poisonous even than thymol 8 ). 



As regards the poisonous effects of large quantities of thymol, cf. Report 1918, p. 70. 



Vanillin. — It is well known that vanillin, or substances which yield vanillin by 

 hydrolysis, are frequent in nature and occur not only in the pods of vanilla, e. g., in 

 the flowers of Nigritella suaveolens, Koch 9 ) and other, especially exotic orchids, but also 

 in the seeds of Lupinus albus, L. 10 ), in ilex leaves 11 ), in potato flowers 12 ) and in cork 13 ). 



Recently A. Buchel 14 ) has drawn attention to the fact that vanillin is also con- 

 tained in the flowers of the 8corzonera lr> ) of our gardens. The smell of vanillin was 

 particularly distinct when the sun was shining on the flowers after rain. 



Since the pimento leaf oil coming from Jamaica contains 89 per cent, of eugenol 

 according to the Imperial Institute of London (cf. page 35 of this Report), the Govern- 

 ment 16 ) were intending to start a vanillin industry in that country. Much importance 

 is attached to the fact observed by Campbell that the fermentation process of the 

 leaves transforms eugenol spontaneously into the iso-compound, an intermediate product 



!) Perfum. Record 12 (1921), 42. — 2 ) Deutsche med. Wochenschr. No. 26 (1918), 716. — 3 ) Med. Klinik 

 No. 15 (1917), 429. — 4 ) New-York Medical Journal of 16. VI. 1917, 1137. — B ) Med. Klinik No. 30 (1917), 

 807. — 6 ) Deutsche zahnarztliche Wochenschr. No. 21 (1917), 249. — 7 ) Zentralbl. f. Chirurgie No. 3 (1918), 35. 

 The references 2 to 7 are taken from E. Merck's Jahresbericht 31 to 32 (1917 to 1918), 364 and 501. — 8 ) Cornet. 

 rend. soc. de Uologie 83 (1920), 1149; from Chem. Zentralbl. 1920, III. 524. — 9 ) Berl. Berichte 27^(1894), 3409. — 

 l .°) Chem. Zentralbl. 1888, I. 377. — ll ) Arbeiten a. d. Kais. Gesundheitsamt 15 (1898), 171. — 12 ) v. Lippmann, 

 Berl. Berichte 52 (1919), 905; Report 1919, 76. — ") Pharm. Zentralh. 39 (1898), 685. — u ) Apotheker Ztg.Zb 

 (1920), 237. — 1B ) Scorzonera hispanica, L., cultivated for the sake of their roots, are probably meant. — 

 ie ) Chemist and Druggist 93 (1920), 1253. Americ. Perfumer 15 (1920), 244. 



