: “AND omer NOTES. ON ESSENTIAL ous. hr, 13 / ms, 
intense tee ees iti Berd chloride. “On submitting a pene: of oils to 
ilar. treatment it was found that all gave a similar reaction. This proved that cassia 
: oil c contained hithertofore unknown phenol-like constituents, for the bodies found in 
the oil so far did not give the colour reaction with ferric chloride. In order to isolate 
ei hese phenols 500 grams of a freshly rectified oil of undoubted purity were treated. 
- The constants were: dz; 1. 050; ay + 0.329. -Cinnamaldehyde 88 per cent. It was 
extracted twice with 500 cc. parins OFZ per cent. sodium hydroxide, and the clear 
alkaline solution acidified and extracted with ether. The ether solution was then 
3 shaken with 10 per cent. sodium bisulphite solution, the latter neutralized with soda, 
distilled with steam and the distillate again extracted with ether. The ether solution, 
on evaporation, left a colourless oil weighing 1.66 grams, showing the characteristic 
_ properties of salicylaldehyde and yielding a crystalline semicarbazone melting at 228° 
3 with decomposition. ; 
The first ether solution, after extraction with bisulphite, was washed with sodium 
bicarbonate solution to remove acids and then evaporated. An oily residue, weighing 
0.53 g. was obtained which crystallized on standing and was identified as coumarin. 
After crystallization from hot water it melted at 67°. From the bicarbonate washings 
a small amount of a crystalline acid was isolated which melted at 123 to 128° and 
proved to be cinnamic acid (acid v. 379, calculated 378.3). As further constituents | 
4 soluble in alkali appeared to be present, 600 Ibs. of cassia oil were treated with alkali, 
_ when 3 Ibs. were dissolved. Of this about 25 per cent.-was readily volatile with steam, 
Band consisted principally of salicylaldehyde, the balance containing coumarin and - 
an oily acid showing a molecular weight of about 175. A larger quantity of this acid, 
or acid mixture, was isolated from the portion of oil not easily volatile with steam. 
_ In the crystalline part of this mixture there was coumarin, besides salicylic acid, the 
liquid part contained the oily acid mixture referred to. When esterified it yielded an 
_ ester mixture having the characteristic odour of the esters of the higher fatty acids 
and consisted of parts lighter than water, as well as parts heavier than water, the 
latter apparently containing ethyl benzoate. 
The result of the examination showed that cassia oil contains at least 0.5 per cent. 
of bodies soluble in dilute. alkali, consisting of a mixture of about 25 per cent. of 
_ Salicylaldehyde, 60 per cent. coumarin, 8 to 10 per cent. cinnamic acid and® small 
_ amounts of salicylic acid, benzoic acid and a volatile liquid acid not identified. 
The presence of small amounts of salicylaldehyde and of coumarin is undoubtedly 
_of importance for the odour of cassia oil. It is remarkable that salicylaldehyde which 
in the process of fractionation can be detected by its odour in the first parts, should 
so long have escaped observation. 
_—i : 
On page 92 a few notes will be found on a colorimetrical method of determining 
; cinnamaldehyde. 
i] 
iy 
Oil of Celery. According to A. Juillet’) the celery seed cultivated in Provence 
and Anjou is used principally in the manufacture of celery essence (concentrated 
bouillon). The chief places of export are St. Remy de Provence and Marseilles, the 
total quantity amounting to about 250 to 300 tons at prices ranging from fr. 35.— to 
fr. 200.— per cwt. The germinating capacity of the seed is on an average about 
70 per cent. Among the impurities mineral substances, stems, leaves, extracted as 
*) Annal. Falsific. 6 (1913), 671; Zeitschr. Untersuch. d. Nahrungs- u. Genussm. 81 (1916), 368. 
