Se Shade Bibel i BP tae” NY iy a id adi ss ae 
ya eee. 
68 REPORT OF SCHIMMEL & Co. APRIL 1914, 
for even in 90 p.c. alcohol it only gave a clear solution at first. The citral-content — 
was found to be 87 p.c. when estimated with bisulphite, and 81 p.c. with neutral sulphite, 
and was therefore higher than in the previously exarimcd oils, which only contained 
from 73 to 78 p.c. 
Remarkably enough, of three samples of Seychelles-lemongrass oil, which were sent 
to us from another quarter, one was readily and the two others sparingly soluble. From 
this circumstance it would almost appear as if both species of lemongrass occurred 
in the Seychelles, for as is well-known, the difference in the solubility of the oils is 
said to be connected with the parent-plant from which they are derived, Cympobogon 
flexuosus, Stapf yielding a readily-soluble, and C. citratus, Stapf a sparingly-soluble oil*). 
We are of course unable to say whether this assumption is well-founded in the case 
under review, or whether the difference in solubility is determined by other causes. 
The characters of the Seychelles oils were as follows: — 
Aldehyde content 
diso Op Np200 Bisulphite method Sulphite method 
0,8954 i Ou” 1,48905 79 °/o 76 °/o = Sol. in 90 p.c. alcohol up to 2 vols. 
afterwards opalescence. 
0,9101 =O 25. 1,49240 77 °/o 70°%/o Sol. in 90 p.c. alcohol up to 4 vols. 
afterwards opalescence. 
0,9008 = DOAN a 86 °/o 81 °/o Sol. in 2,3 vols. a.m. 70 p. c. alcohol. 
Oil from Lignum nephriticum. On p. 69 of our last Report we referred to a 
paper by H. J. Moller on Lignum nephriticum, in which it was stated that, in the opinion 
of the author, this oil was the product of certain species of Pterocarpus. According to 
J. Small*), this is not correct; the parent plant of the drug being Hysenhardtia amorphovdes, 
H. B. et K., N. O. Leguminose. Small bases his assertion upon a careful microscopical 
examination of the material, and upon a test of the aqueous extract of the wood. He 
further points out that some years ago Stapf*), as the result of a thorough examination 
of Lignum nephriticum, arrived at the same conclusion; but that Mdller’s paper contains 
no mention to Stapf’s investigation. 
Lime Oil. The sale of this oil has of course been affected unfavourably by the 
fall in the lemon oil market, but in spite of this a return to the old low prices is for 
the present out of the question. Very little hand-pressed oil has been received from 
the West Indies, and until the supplies increase the present level of prices is likely 
to be maintained. 
The official organ of the Imperial Department of Agriculture for the West Indies, 
the Agricultural News, a paper published in Barbados, recommends that, as a protection 
for the young lime-plantations against the strong winds which prevail in the island of 
St. Lucia*), trees should be planted®). It is said that EHucalyptus paniculata®) is particularly 
suitable for this purpose. The trees should be planted before, and not after, the lime- 
plantations are laid down. In St.Lucia the lime industry increases year by year, but 
it is still second to the sugar industry. 
1) Comp. Report April 1907, 33. — *) Pharmaceutical Journ. 92 (1914), 4. — #*) Kew Bull. 1909, 293. 
Small’s paper erroneously gives the year as 1908. — 4+) Comp. Report October 1918, 70. — 5) The Chemist and 
Druggist 84 (1914), 304. — 8) According to Baker and Smith (A research on the Eucalypts, Sydney 1902, p. se 
E. paniculata, Sm. occasionally grows to a considerable height. 
