10 Report of Schimmel § Co. April /October 1917. 



longer accessible for us, induced P. Bohrisch 1 ) to publish an article on natural and 

 synthetic camphors. Although the subject is of great interest just now, we may limit 

 ourselves just to mentioning the article, as it does not contain anything new of 

 importance. 



Doubtless camphor oil belongs to the most carefully examined volatile oils and 

 numbers of its components have been verified. That, however, this oil still often 

 contains many components which hitherto have escaped observation, is an obvious 

 supposition. Hence it is not surprising that recently K Kafuku 2 ) should have proved 

 the existence of laurinic acid in a sample of oil, distilled by the Camphor Monopoly 

 Office at Formosa. This oil showed the following constants: d i5 o 0.9805; n D17 . 5 o 1 .5035 ; 

 acid v, 3.14; ester v. 0.66; ester v. after acet. 126. Besides this the oil contained a 

 compound Ci 4 H 2 6 2 , being probably the lactone of an aliphatic hydroxyacid, as well as 

 a tricyclic sesquiterpene alcohol. In the highest-boiling fractions piperonylic acid was 

 present which perhaps was formed during distillation by the oxidation of safrole. 

 The abstract, however, gives no particulars as to the characteristics and properties 

 of these compounds. 



Cardamom Oil. In" the annual report of the Matale Planters' Association of 

 Ceylon for 1916 3 ), the weather is called unfavourable for the development* of the 

 cardamoms, being too seldom damp and misty, as the plants require. The crop is 

 somewhat smaller than that of 1915, as new fresh plantations have been started, whereas 

 many old fields show signs of exhaustion. In Colombo, the demand relaxed at times, 

 but became a little more vivid towards the close of the year. It was likewise difficult in 

 London to sell important lots, although the prices were rather satisfactory during the 

 first half of the year. In the second half of the year, the demand rose from the U. S., 

 but the prices went down somewhat. There are 1664 acres under cultivation, 1440 of 

 which are productive. A crop of about 680 000 lbs. is expected for 1917. 



In the report of the Ceylon Planters' Association, the exports in 1916 are 

 estimated at 427843 lbs., against 519039 lbs. in 1915. No doubt, considerable quan- 

 tities are being held back, owing to the low. prices and in the expectation of better 

 ones later on. The prices for green-dried as well as for fully cured cardamoms are 

 so low that it hardly pays to grow them. The shipments in 1917 will not exceed 

 500000 lbs. 



Cedar Oil, Himalayan. Under this heading we recently 4 ) described an oil which 

 the Forest Research Institute and College at Dehra Dun had sent us for examination 

 and which had been distilled from the wood of Cedrus Deodara, Loud. (C. Libani, Barr. 

 var. Deodara). This wood is used in India for building purposes, incidentally also for 

 railway sleepers. It has been proposed to distil the refuse in order to utilize it; 

 in the same manner cedar wood chips are treated in the manufacture of pencils. 

 O. D. Roberts 5 ), who investigated the oil closely, draws attention to the fact that the 

 botanical status of the Himalayan cedar ("Deodar Tree") is still uncertain. Some 

 authors regard it as a definite species (Cedrus Deodara, Loud.), whereas others take it 

 for a variety of C. Libani. 



x ) Pharm.Zentralh. 57 (1916), 683, 699. — 2 ) J. chem. Ind., Tokyo 19 (1916), 815; Journ. Soc. chem. In- 

 dustry 35 (1916), 1178. — 3 ) Chemist and Druggist 89 (1917), 382. — 4 ) Report April 1915, 5.2. — B ) Journ. 

 chem. Soc. 109(1916), 791. 



