TI IER N Not ESC ON E SSENTIAL ous. 
oie, seca 
bout 80 per cont. ‘of oe oranges ec niuated in ihe Ia tibohetio’d. of Fez belong to 
‘the variety of Citrus bigaradia.. In the district of Marakesh harvesting’ of the blossoms 
terminates in April while around Rabat it only reaches its height in that month and 
in Mekines it ends even later. In Fez the gathering of the blossoms lasts about twenty 
B-Gays- Marakesh and Fez are without doubt the most important centres of distillation. 
_ The natives possess only very primitive apparatus, and they produce orange flower 
water, -but not the oil. 
In a previous Report we had dealt with the changes which take place in miedic wen 
waters, and the means of sterilising such preparations”). In this connection we would 
_ refer to a paper by R. Guyot®) on the green coloration of orange flower water and 
_ other distilled waters and solutions. The coloration is due to an aerobic microbe 
- forming colourless clusters of rod-like organisms, 4 to 5 long and 0.5 4 wide, which 
_ are colored by basic aniline dyes and methyl blue and assume the Ziehl and Gram 
_ colorations. This microbe is different from Bacillus liquefaciens fluorescens and from most 
water bacteria producing green fluorescence. It produces a green, non-fluorescent 
- coloration. It also differs from Bacillus pyocyaneus as well as from Lesage’s bacillus. 
_ The new microbe appears to be able to exist without giving off the green colour; its — 
_ colour-forming properties are dependent upon extraneous surroundings and the com- 
position of its cultivating solution.. Oxidating media and oxygen favour the development 
of the green coloration while reducing substances weaken it and make it disappear 
entirely. Light has a favourable influence on the development of the green colour. 
oe acts as a reducing substance; this is the reason why green coloration does not 
‘take place with orange flower water stored in zinc vessels. An alkaline reaction of 
the liquid favours the development of the microbe. 
2 The green colouring matter evidently belongs to the group of aurantiachlorines; 
it is insoluble in alcohol, methyl alcohol, ether, chloroform, and benzene, but dissolves 
in water. To isolate the colour, undyed wool is immersed in the liquid when the 
_ colour is precipitated on the wool. If the wool is treated with diluted acids the green 
colour is converted into a brick-red one, soluble in alcohol, methyl alcohol, ether, 
4 chloroform, and benzene. If this solution is neutralized, the red colour is once again 
converted into the green colour, soluble in water. Cherry laurel water never shows 
_ green coloration. No decrease in odour is noticeable in the waters owing to the 
_ change involved by the green coloration; on the contrary, with orange flower water. 3 
_ for instance the opposite effect may be observed. ; 
= i 
Oil of Nigella. A few years ago*) we reported on a synthesis of damascenine, 
_ the alkaloid of the oil of Nigella damascena, L., carried out by J. Ewins, by which syn- 
thesis the formula established by us for the alkaloid at an earlier date®), CioHis03N 
_ was confirmed. In damascenine Ewins recognized the methyl ester of 2-methylamino- 
3-methoxybenzoic acid (methylmethoxymethylanthranilate) (IV). A new synthesis, by 
_ which the constitution is not only confirmed but by which the manufacture of any 
_ quantity of the alkaloid is rendered possible, has of late been described by A. Kauf- 
. ep and E. Rothlin®). They start from the synthetically easily accessible 8-methoxy- 
te 
> 1) Parfum. moderne 9 (1916), 51. — ) Report April 1914, 119. — %) Journ. de Pharm. et Chim. VII. 18 
(1916), 37; Chem. Zentralbl. 1916, Il. 74. — *) Report October 1912, 84. — 5) Report October 1899, 38. — 
_ *) Berl. Berichte 49 (1916), 578. ‘s ; 
