“ScreNTIFIC AND OTHER NOTES. ON ESSENTIAL ols. / ti 31 
ae * ¥ : 5 \ 
rains, phandant quantities. of eo hiddne are spread on it, when the harrowing is 
i peated, and the seeds are sown in February in drills 10 cm. deep and 75 cm. apart. 
ously: a little powdered press-cake is strewn in the furrows which, after having 
eceived the seeds, ‘are covered by ploughing. About 10 to 15 kos. of seeds are re-_ 
qu mired per hectare. End of April, when the plants are from 8 to 10 cm. high, they are 
thi ned out, so that there is a space of 10 to 15 cm. between them. In June the ground 
is is dug over and harrowed with a very light harrow. 
The harvest begins in August, as soon as the fruits ripen. The ripening proceeds 
fi Beir the centre of the umbels outwards and lasts throughout the month. | 
The ripe fruits as collected are stored in a dry place and, when the harvest is over, 
Separation from stalks, &e., is effected by means of a roller, the debris being removed 
- by a current of air. — aes . 
__ The most important centres of production are situated in the Department of the 
; Gard, where fennel is grown in many parishes, in some the great and in others the 
f small variety. In certain villages, it is the custom for the merchants to supply the 
_ peasants with the seed and to contract for the crop at a fixed price. Fennel is also 
_ grown in Bourg-Saint-Andéol in the Ardéche, but the distilleries of Lyons, Avignon, 
_ Marseilles, Grenoble, Valence and Montpellier are supplied almost entirely by the crops 
4 of the Gard. 
The principal markets a are at Pink Saint: -Esprit, Orange and Nimes. In normal years, 
the Department of the ae alone furnishes to the factories about. 300000 kilos of 
fennel fruits. | 
_ For our own. distillation, eee ad near Liitzen provide at sreserit the fennel seed 
required, there being no imports’ as yet from Galicia, which mainly supplied the market 
. formerly. The crop is rather late this year and is not generally considered favourable. 
In consequence, the prices are so high that it is hardly possible to think of distilling 
average, ‘the holders now ask for ZH 390.— to HW 400.—. 
2 
~ 
4 S Gtiger Oil. A pungent cubstance’ zingerone, a resolution product of the gingerol, 
; ‘originally contained in the drug, can be prepared from the ginger rhizomes’). 
A. Nomura’) communicates that on distilling the pungent constituents of Japanese 
“ginger, another substance can be obtained in addition to zingerone. He calls it 
3 ogaol (CizH2s0;); b. p. 231 to 238° (15.5 mm.), deso 1.0448, npsso 1.52467. It contains 
a methoxyl and a hydroxyl group and was accordingly converted into a monomethyl, 
I nonoethyl and monoacetyl derivative. Presumably, it also. contains. a keto group 
‘and an ethylene compound, for it was possible to hydrogenize it with the aid of 
‘platinum black and hydrogen into a dihydro derivative. 
Together with F. Nozawa*), Nomura: tried to find out which structural properties 
‘it in ply the characteristic taste of zingerone (4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenylethylmethylketone), 
b by preparing a number of phenylethylmethylketones, which contain hydroxyl or methoxyl 
gi groups in the benzene nucleus. It resulted that such ketones as contained hydroxyl 
in para-position to the keto group of the lateral chain, especially those derived from 
vanillin, resembled the zingerone in taste. The degree of pungency is influenced by 
4 position of the hydroxyl with regard to the lateral keto-chain and is increased 
; the Bere of an m-methoxyl. group. The influence of the pydigearbon radical 
e _ 4) Comp. Report October 1918, 29, — *) Sci. Rep. wonolea Imp. Univ., 07; Journ. Soc. chem. Indutsry 37 
(4918) A. 006. — #4) Sci. Rep. Tohoku 7 (1B) 3 79; Journ. Soc. chem. Industry 37 (1918), A. 606. 
ona large scale. Whereas last year fennel seed cost -# 165.— per 100 kilos, on an 
