> , me led EAL ome i) 
28 REPORT OF SCHIMMEL & Co. OCTOBER 1914/APRIL 1915. 
Pe a 
Oil of Lavandula dentata. In our Reports October 1905 (p. 40) and April 1908 
_(p. 62) we published short notes on an oil which had been distilled by us, presumably 
from the flowers of Lavandula Stechas, L. These flowers had been sent us at the - 
time under this designation from Spain. Doubts having arisen meantime as to the 
correctness of these indications, we requested Dr. Giessler, custodian of the Botanical 
Institute of Leipzig University, to make a close botanical examination of the material 
in question. The result was that the mother-plant was found to be, not Lavandula 
Stechas, but Lavandula dentata, L. It was recognized by its long-stalked inflorescences 
and its pinnate leaves, with rounded dentation. Lavandula Stechas has short-stalked — 
inflorescences and leaves with curled margin. 
We may as well repeat the informations given at the time concerning the 
composition of the oil. It was of a brownish yellow colour and had a camphory 
odour. dis0 0,9620; ap + 35° 30’; npz»0 1,47909; acid v. 5,16; ester v. 13,1; ester v. after 
acetylation 67,9; soluble in 2 volumes and more of 70 p.c. alcohol; the diluted solution 
became opalescent owing to separation of paraffin. As component parts of the oil 
d-camphor (m. p. 175 to 175,5°; oxime, m.p. 117 to 118°; semicarbazone, m. p. 2319) 
and d-fenchone (oxime, m.p. 165°) were found. Possibly fenchylalcohol occurs in 
the oil too. 
Lavender Oil. As has been mentioned repeatedly in technical literature’), 
lavender oils produced in the modern manner, by means of dry steam distillation, are 
much less readily soluble than those obtained by the old method, 7. e. by distillation 
with water. J. G. R. Francois?) attributes this phenomenon to the presence of wax-like 
substances which are carried over in consequence of the quicker and more energetic 
distillation, whereas with the ordinary method of production in vogue in the South 
of France this does not seem to be the case. It is said that, when stored, the oils 
become more soluble after some time, owing, presumably, to the wax-like substances 
settling little by little. This is confirmed from another quarter’). An oil which 
originally required 6,5 to 7 volumes of 70 p.c. alcohol for a clear solution, dissolved 
in 4 volumes after 8 months; another oil at first in 5 volumes, and after about three 
months in 3,5 volumes only. We have not come across such oils so far. The 
lavender oils under our own observation became either less readily soluble with age, or 
else there was no noticeable alteration at all. The presence of “wax-like”’ bodies in 
oils distilled with dry steam seems to us highly improbable and we have never noticed 
anything like it in such distillates. 
On page 68 of our Report October 19138 we mentioned a lavender oil which had 
been distilled in Comisa*) (island of Lissa) and which was remarkable owing.to its 
extraordinarily high ester percentage (57,1 p.c.). A still higher ester percentage, namely 
61,0 p.c., has been observed since then in an oil distilled from dried flowers in — 
Comisa®). It had the following properties: d 0,899, a) — 8° 30’, soluble in 4 volumes 
of 70 p.c. alcohol. 
Lemongrass Oil. We have often reproduced in these Reports®) publications of 
the Imperial Institute in London about badly soluble East Indian lemongrass oils. 
1) Comp. i. a. Report April 1907, 66. — 2) Perfum. Record 5 (1914), 147. — 3) Ibidem 264. — +4) The 
town of Comisa is meant, on the island of Lissa. An island of Comisa, as had been mentioned in the report in 4 
question, does not exist. — 5) Perfum. Record 6 (1914), 130. — ®) Comp. Report April 1912, 89; April 1913, 71. 
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