Sa REPORT OF SCHIMMEL & Co. OCTOBER 1915. 
To this we need only add that we quite agree that “a few tips” will still be neces- 
sary to convert the theory described into practice. Everybody here in Germany, who 
has anything to do with thymol manufacture, will hardly be able to take cognizance, 
without a smile, of these rather naive remarks. | . 
In view of the present scarcity of ajowan oil, steps appear to have been taken in 
England to find other sources for thymol, for we find') that the firm of H. Rubeck in 
London has placed on the market a thymol obtained from thyme oil. There is nothing 
remarkable in this fact, for there is no reason why thymol should not be produced 
from this raw material in England or elsewhere. But if, in reference to this particular 
article, we read that the production of thymol crystals is attained “by an extremely 
ingenious process’, it is somewhat amusing to learn that Rubeck’s preparation suffices 
perhaps for practical purposes, but that its melting point is too low and does not, 
therefore, come up to the requirements of the British Pharmacopoeia. The reason 
given is that “under present excise conditions” thymol cannot be crystallized from 
pure alcohol in England. There is little consolation in this for the buyer. It is evident 
that the writer of the article was in an awkward predicament, for on the one hand 
he was obliged to bestow praise upon the “ingenious” manufacturer, on the other 
hand he felt compelled to draw buyers’ attention as “gingerly” as possible to the 
evident defects of this “ingenious” product. 
Vanillin. In our previous Report (p.60) we mentioned a publication by M. Lehmann 
on his observations in the examination of vanillin from clove oil on the one hand, 
and from guaiacol on the other hand. As the vanillin produced in the latter way 
came off second best in the paper in question, the firm of C. F. Boehringer & Séhne 
were induced to publish a reply, in which they proved that vanillin may be produced 
from guaiacol in equal purity and quality as from eugenol. In a letter to the editor 
of the Chemiker-Zeitung [39 (1915), 266], Lehmann now replies that in his paper he 
spoke of guaiacol vanillins in quite a general way, and that he never implied that 
there are no such preparations which are not equal to clove oil vanillin. In their 
reply Messrs. Boehringer & Sdhne declare themselves satisfied with this statement. 
J. F. Sacher?) has also been occupied with the solution of above question and 
has arrived at the same conclusion, viz., that vanillin may be produced from guaiacol 
in exactly the same purity and of the same quality as from eugenol. Sacher carried 
out his examination in the following manner: about 0.5 g. of vanillin are weighed 
exactly, and are dissolved in about 100 cc. of absolute alcohol previously neutralized, 
and, by using phenol phthaleine as indicator, are titrated with alcoholic N/10 soda lye. 
In this manner he found values from 99.85 to 100.2 p.c. with vanillins originating 
partly from Franz Fritzsche 8 Co., from which he concludes that the preparations in 
question were of the required degree of purity. It is said that adulterations may be 
readily found by titration, and it is alleged that fractions of percents of foreign bodies 
(acetanilide, heliotropin, sugar, benzoic acid, phthalic acid) can be proved with accuracy 
in this manner. 
Unfortunately we have failed to obtain similarly satisfactory results with this 
method. We cannot agree with the opinion of Sacher that, by using phenolphthaleine 
as indicator, vanillin may be titrated correctly with alkali liquor. The same drawback 
is noticeable which is opposed to a correct determination of phenols by direct titration 
with alkali, viz., the weak acid character of phenol as opposed to the strong base. 
1) Perfum. Record 6 (1915), 55. — 2%) Deutsche Parf.-Ztg. 1 (1915), 187. 
