COMMERCIAL NOTES AND SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION. 53 
Oil of Eryngium foetidum. We have already stated on a previous occasion‘) 
that a solid acid has been discovered at Buitenzorg in the distillation-water of this 
oil. The most recent issue of the Year Book of the “Departement van Landbouw” 
states that the m. p. of this acid is from 165 to 166°. Quantities of the acid weighing 
0,223 and 0,1705 grams neutralised respectively 13 and 10,1 cc. decinormal potash 
liquor, which corresponds to an acid value of 327,1 and 332,4 respectively’). 
Essential Oils, Sicilian and Calabrian. 
We are again indebted to our friend, Mr. Eduardo Jacob, of Messina, for a detailed 
report on the oils of the agrumi, which, in accordance with our practice, we quote 
im full; — 
It appears from the statistical returns of the exports of Sicilian and Calabrian 
essential oils from the ports of Sicily and Calabria for the year 1913, that in respect - 
of quantity the shipments during that year have fallen below those of 1912 by 97631 kilos, 
whereas on the other hand, notwithstanding the smallness of the weight shipped, the 
value of the essential oils exported in 1913 surpassed that of the preceding year by 
1280728 lire. That is to say, there has been a decrease in the shipments by weight 
of about 11 p.c., and an increase by value of about 6 p.c. 
The above figures are convincing evidence that the conditions of production in 
the winter from 1912 to 1913 have been unusually bad, and this fact explains both the 
smallness of the exports, and their high value. The increase in value of the essential 
oils, especially oil of lemon, was the more felt because no old stocks from the season 
1911/12 had been carried over into the season 1912/13, and because in the year 1913 
the trade had to depend entirely and solely upon the output of the current season. 
In view of the high prices, consumption has been restricted as far as possible, but 
this notwithstanding it was so large that towards the end of 1913 also, before the 
opening of the new season, all the stocks, here as well as abroad, were practically 
‘speaking entirely exhausted. 
Bergamot Oil. At the beginning of September 1913, bergamot oil stood at the 
basis of approximately 47 -#, and at this price it remained until the beginning of 
December 1913. It was only when more plentiful supplies of the new oil were arriving 
on the market that the article began to fall, slowly but steadily, with the results that 
in the months from December to the end of February it sagged from 47 -Z down to 
almost 37 -#. Different estimates of the new crop were formed, according to the 
appearance of the trees during the dry summer. Some thought very favourably of the 
prospects of the coming crop, others feared that the prolonged drought would injuriously 
affect the oil-content of the fruit. But in spite of the fact that towards the end of the 
summer a few excessively hot days damaged part of the young fruit and caused it to 
fall prematurely, the bergamots which had remained on the trees developed so 
favourably in the course of the autumn and the early winter months, that the crop, 
taking it all round, may be described as a very fair average indeed. Influenced by 
the favourably-sounding reports, foreign buyers in the course of the summer exhibited 
great scepticism with regard to the proposals for business for delivery made to them 
1) Comp. Report October 1913, 49. — 7) Jaarb. dep. Landb. in Ned.-Indié, Batavia, 1912, 57. 
