26 Report of Schimmel § Co. 1922. 



The production is said to have gone down considerably during the summer months, 

 owing the extraordinarily dry weather. 



A citronella oil from the Seychelles of the year 1918, investigated by the Imperial 

 Institute 1 ) had the following constants: — dg| 0.881, « D20O — 28° 30', soluble in 1.7 vols. 

 80 per cent, alcohol at 20°, turbidity with 10 vols., insoluble in 80 per cent, alcohol 

 at 15°. Total geraniol (all acetylizable constituents calculated as geraniol) 52.2 per cent., 

 geraniol 27.5 per cent., citronellal 24.7 per cent. 2 ). Compared with other citronella oils, 

 the sample resembled somewhat the Ceylon product. The citronella grass, from which the 

 sample in question had been distilled, had been imported from Ceylon to the Seychelles. 



Clove Oil. — For the time being there are no special reports on the Zanzibar 

 clove market. — Only 10 to 15 tons of the Madagascar cloves come from the main- 

 land, the larger part being gathered on the island St. Marie, situated near the north- 

 east coast. The exports, chiefly to France, were 143 tons in 1918 and 499 tons in 

 1919. Although the shipments in December 1920 amounted to 87 tons, the whole 

 1920/21 crop totalled only 20 tons. The prospects for 1921/22 are said to be good 3 ). 



Oil of Coleus atnboinicus. — According to F. Weehuizen 4 ), the leaves of Coleus 

 amboinicus, Lour. 5 ) (C. carnosus, Hassk.), a labiata indigenous in Java, contain an essential 

 oil (0.055 and 0.021 per cent.), in which the presence of carvacrol could be proved. 



Copaiba Balsam Oil. — In order to avoid the often disturbing influence Of con- 

 centrated sulphuric acid, J. B. Luther 6 ) carried out Turner's reaction for the determination 

 of gurjun balsam oil in copaiba balsam oil as follows: — After having added 1 drop 

 of a 10 per cent, solution of sodium nitrite to a solution of 4 drops of the oil in 1 cc. 

 of glacial acetic acid, this was mixed at once with 2 cc. of glacial acetic acid containing 

 5 per cent, by volume of concentrated sulphuric acid. The presenee of gurjun balsarnHs 

 revealed at once by a violet colour. Copaiba balsam turns red within a short time 7 ). 



Coriander Oil. — Thuringian coriander was on the market in fairly considerable 

 quantities, but the prices asked for were so high that our industry bought with the greatest 

 reserve. The depreciation of the Mark caused in this case too that nearly the whole 

 production was exported at high prices to the detriment of the home industry, for in the 

 end the manufacturers of essential oils had to buy at export prices in order to replenish 

 their stocks. It seems, unfortunately, that the Government little grasps the situation for, 

 as with caraway and fennel, no reply has been given to a motion to stop the export. 



In order to ascertain something about the effect of bleaching on coriander, 

 J. A. Baker 8 ) treated the drug with sulphur dioxide. It was found through quantitative 

 experiments that the action of a 1 per cent, solution of sulphur dioxide during one 

 minute was quite sufficient to bleach coriander. This process answered better than 

 a twenty-four hours' dry treatment of the seeds with double the quantity of sulphur 

 dioxide. Whereas unbleached coriander yielded on steam distillation 0.185 per cent, 

 of essential oil, the aqueous distillate of the bleached drug smelled of sulphur dioxide 



x ) Bull. Imp. Inst. 18 (1920), 338. *) It is not said how the determination was carried out. — 3 ) United 



States Commercial Meports 1921. As per Journ. Soc. Chem. Ind. 40 (1921) R. 235. — *) Recueil Trav. Chim. Pays- 

 Bas et Beluique 37 (1918), 355. As per Angew. Botanik 3 (1921), 107. — B ) According to the Index Kewensis 

 Coleus amhoinisus is identical with C. aromaticus, Benth. — 6 ) Journ. Assoc. Off Agric Chem. 41 (1921), 422. As 

 per Journ. Soc. Chem. Soc. 40 (1921), A. 488. — ') Comp. also Gildemeister and Hoffmann, The Volatile 

 Oils, 2 nd edition, vol. II, page 620. — 8 ) Journ. Americ. Pharm. Assoc. 10 (1921), 453. 



