j UF gs 3 per ee ee De a Ge 4. Ly 
lh trap iiaaaee Re Ra Peo ae 
Rene uid ies Gia e Sra 
a : PE ES. OILS. re ’ 5 
& +2 ste) ; asi 4 Ph ve, a 
feo in 
_~ Feed ’ by AF } ‘ , 
ode oaks \ : } ioiad: ~ } 
"Scientific and other Notes on Essential Oils. | 
a De ae a) 
ie Mista Oil. The ajowan see (Ptychotis Sat D. oe Cofim Ajowan, Benth. 
-Hook.; C.. copticum, Benth. ; ; Umbellifere), hitherto grown. pealtcirely! in British India, 
Re now ‘been cultivated in the. Seychelles and Montserrat by way of trial). The 
seeds from the Seychelles looked sickly, but contained ° about 9 per cent. of oil, the. 
_ thymol ‘content of which was 38 per cent., whereas the. Indian seeds yield only 3 to 
; Bee Pee cent. of oil with a thymol content of 40 to 55 per cent. Although the Indian oil 
is richer in thymol, the seeds from the Seychelles offer an advantage owing to the 
PD higher percentage of oil. The seeds from Montserrat. yielded 3,1 per cent. of oil, 
months after sowing and amounted to 1128 Ibs. per acre. 
_ be carried out on. the spot.. jas 
a , AS. to. ajowan oils from. Montserrat. and St Hats see onge 75 of this Report 
aa et ; } 
acs j 
<% ; 
a : Almond Oil, bitter. In our previous Hea. Ga 5), we lainey Bornied out ek 
: piseracetel conditions prevailing in the trade with bitter almond oil. Meanwhile, “they 
have become still worse. Out of the uncommonly numerous samples. OL: ‘genuine 
4 chlorine. and were therefore composed, entirely or in part, of common, crude benz- 
aldehyde. It is a very great pity that even important firms take part in this cheating 
and have not. the courage to acknowledge that, for the time being they. neither have” 
the genuine article in stock nor can procure it. | 
& We would day Special | stress upon the fact that true. ‘bitter almond oil never 
contains even the slightest trace of chlorine compounds and a great lack of knowledge ~ 
is betrayed, if the seller asserts, as has been done in a case we know of, that 
¥ went so far as to declare a chlorine reaction possible, if the bottle has previously _ 
been rinsed with water. As we stated already many years ago (Report April 1891, 7, 
_ cannot be detected at all through our combustion method, but exclusively organic 
1 bitter almond oil. | 
_We would refer, besides, to ae notes on page bd: of this Report, regarding the 
DI sresence of ag in Pees 
& hs Bull. Imp. Inst. 16 (1918), 30; Tourn: Soc. chem. Industry 37 cra A. 604. — %) Journ. de Phabin et 
eo Ps uw ha gi } 
el 
4 _ containing 54, per cent. of thymol; 82 0,935; ay 217 0,909. 1: The crop took pee six i 
The Imperial Institute thinks this. result is ae but the distillation 1 should ae 
bitter almond oil, free from prussic acid’’, received by our analytical laboratory, there ae 
“was not even a single one that stood the test! They all contained more or less ~ i 
chlorine compounds, the origin of which can not be - doubted for an instant, if found | 1s 
Gt Mga a 
4 chlorine reactions are not seldom with genuine oils. The “expert” in question even 
_ footnote) anorganic chlorides, as would come into consideration with ordinary water, ae 
