6 Report of Schimmel § Co. 1922. 



indicated above. After having isolated it, it could be identified by its odour and its 

 other properties: — diso 1.2032, n D20 o 1.55104, solidification point +3.6°. 



Nitrobenzene being highly poisonous, as we have repeatedly pointed out in our 

 Reports 1 ), its use as an adulterant is inexcusable. We can only take it that the seller 

 was too silly to understand the bearing of his action, otherwise he ought to have 

 realized what ill effects the addition of nitrobenzene to a product often used in the 

 household may have. 



As E. Pinoff 2 ) says, the presence of nitrobenzene in bitter almond oil can easily 

 be proved in the following way:— 10 cc. of a 40 per cent, formaldehyde solution and 

 20 cc. of concentrated ammonia are filled in a cylinder holding 100 cc. and which can 

 be closed with a stopper of india-rubber. After having shaken the mixture carefully 

 for some time, it must be allowed to stand for five minutes. Then it is shaken 

 vigorously with 10 cc. of the bitter almond oil and again allowed to stand. The pure 

 bitter almond forms an emulsion with the formaldehyde-ammonia, whereas the nitro- 

 benzene deposits as a clear liquid. The nitrobenzene is then reduced with zinc and 

 hydrochloric acid to aniline, which can be identified by one of the well-known reactions. 



We are of opinion that the usual method, according to which the benzaldehyde is 

 bound to bisulphite, is simpler and more convenient (cf. Gildemeister and Hoffmann, 

 The Volatile Oils. 2 nd edition, vol. I, p. 585). 



Oil of Amomis jamaicensis. — The oil of Amomis jamaicensis (wild pimento), the 

 constants of which we quoted in our Report of 1920, p. 6 after a communication 

 in the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, London, has been further investigated by 

 O. D. Roberts 3 ). After removing the free acids (0.2 per cent, acetic and caproic acids), 

 an aldehyde (0.1 per cent.) and a phenol (0.1 per cent., not eugenol) the oil was hydro- 

 lysed with boiling alcoholic potassium hydroxide and the oil separating after addition 

 of water and extracting with ether was submitted to fractional distillation at 14 mm. 

 pressure, which gave the following fractions:— l.B. p. 75 to 80° (175 to 190° at ordinary 

 pressure), 32 per cent, of the original oil ; 2. b. p. 80 to 95° (190 to 205°, ord. pr.), 42 per cent. 

 3. b. p. 95 to 1 10° (205 to 220°, ord. pr.), 4 per cent; 4. b. p. 1 10 to 125° (220 to 235° ord 

 pr.), 6 per cent.; residue 16 per cent, of the original oil. Fraction 1 contained 47 per cent 

 cineole = 15 per cent, of the original oil (resorcinol method and iodole addition com 

 pound), «-phellandrene (nitrite, m. p. 1 12 to 113°), and dipentene (tetrabromide, m. p. 124°) 

 The principal part of fraction 2 had the constants: — b. p. 197 to 198°, d^g 0.8693, « D — 3°3*9' 

 n D20 o 1.4655 and was identical with Minalool (oxidation to citral; a-citryl-/?-naphthocin- 

 choninic acid, m. p. 200°). In fraction 4 geraniol was proved to be present (diphenyl- 

 urethane, m. p. 80 to 81°). The residue boiling above 235° was heated on the water 

 bath under reduced pressure for some weeks with sodium. There was thus obtained 

 by distillation under 15 mm. pressure a colourless oil, with a slight balsamic odour, 

 b. p. 245 to 290° (uncorr.), djf§ 0.9320, which was still slowly attacked by sodium. 



The author summarizes his investigation as follows: — The oil of Amomis jamaicensis 

 contains about 17 per cent, of terpenes («-phellandrene and dipentene), 15 percent, of 

 cineole, 38.3 per cent, of alcohols (chiefly Minalool with some geraniol), 1 .5 per cent, 

 of ester (linalyl acetate), each 0.1 per cent, of phenols and aldehydes, both undetermined, 

 0.2 per cent, of acetic and caproic acids, and 27.8 per cent, residue probably containing 

 sesquiterpenes. 





*) Cf. for instance Btport 1918, 5. — 2 ) Pharm. Zentralh. 62 (1921), 610. — 3 ) Journ. Soc. chem. Ind. 40 

 (1921), T. 95. 



