Commercial and scientific notes on essential oils. 



21 



from that of the trees cultivated in Ceylon 1 ), but it was never handled so carefully, 

 never had the fine aroma of Ceylon cinnamon 2 ) and in consequence never fetched so 

 good a price. The exports of bark from Seychelles for the years 1908—1919 are shown 

 in the following table: — 



1908 .... 1202 tons 1915 .... 189 tons 



1909 . . 



. . 1044 „ 



1910 . . 



. . 731 „ 



1911 . . 



. . 964 , 



1912 . . 



. . 1098 „ 



1913 . . 



. . 698 „ 



1914 . . 



. . 589 „ 



1916 . . 



. 184 „ 



1917 . . 



i ,; 



1918 . . 



nil „ 



1919 . . 



. 275 „ 



1920 . . 



. 185 „ 



Prior to 1915 most of the bark was shipped to Germany, Holland being the next 

 most important customer. In 1915 and later years the bulk went to the United Kingdom. 

 After twelve stills had been installed in 1915 for the distillation of cinnamon bark and 

 leaf and lemongrass oils, the exports increased sevenfold within three years. During 

 the war the development of the industry was hampered by the impossibilty of obtaining 

 modern machinery for steam distillation from Europe, but a Chinese settler set the 

 example of building a small still of wood and iron obtained locally for direct fire 

 distillation: his example was followed by many small-holders. On samples being 

 submitted to the Imperial Institute, it was found that there was not much difference 

 between the ojls obtained by steam distillation and those from direct fire distillation. 

 The high price reached by cinnamon leaf oil encouraged the manufacturers to devote 

 themselves mainly to this oil, as is shown by the following table of exports, and during 

 1920 there were 44 distilleries at work (total production 24430 litres) 3 ), as against 12 in 1915. 

 Export of Cinnamon Oils from Seychelles. 





Bark oil 



Leaf oil 



1911 . . . 



1 1 



0,2 £ 



212 I 



56 



1912 . . . 



— 



— 



1 543 „ 



338 



1913 . . . 



— 



— 



3054,, 



799 



1914 . . . 



— 



— 



8406,, 



2320 



1915 . . 



99 



73 i 



9587,, 



2505 



1916 . . . 



1834 „ 



1041 



t5669 „ 



4484 



1917 . . . 



91 „ 



171 „ 



14175,, 



4317 



1918 . . . 



131 „ 



262 



12731 „ 



5111 



1919 . . . 



27 „ 



46 „ 



24430,, 



11634 



1920 . . . 



— 



■ — 



39507 „ 



26029 



The price of cinnamon leaf oil having fallen from 10 rupees to about Rs. 3 to Rs. 4 

 per litre in 1920 4 ), little has been manufactured since, so that the exports for 1921 will 

 show a decline. 



Up to 1911 no difference was made in Seychelles between bark and leaf oils. The 

 exports of "cinnamon oil" were 285 litres in 1908, 12 litres in 1909 and 124 litres in 1910. 



A number of trees having been planted near Malacca, a small quantity of quills 

 were prepared in 1851 by Sinhalese convicts, who were professional cinnamon peelers, 

 and sent to England, but although, considering that the bark was cut at the wrong 

 season and from neglected trees, the report was favourable and the bark was paid 



2 ) Cf. Reports April 1910, 35; April 1911, 43. — 2 ) Cinnamon oil from Seychelles differs also from the 

 Ceylon product in that its content of cinnamaldehyde is lower and that it contains camphor. B&povt November 

 1908, 42. - - z ) As per HeO-und QewurZfpjl. 4 (1921), 127. — *) Per f am. Record 12 (1921), 415. 



