13* 



BAARMANN and REIMER during the period 1 891-1896 apparently 

 under an agreement to avoid competition in prices. About 1897, 

 however, a period of competition set in between the French and 

 German makes, which was further accentuated by additions, in 

 France, Germany and Switzerland, to the number of firms making 

 vanillin. The result has been that the price of this product, which 

 was fy per lb. in 1890, has steadily fallen until in November last it 

 was quoted at /j.1.4 per lb. It is probable that all the vanillin so 

 far placed on the market has been made from eugenol, and its price 

 has therefore been governed by that of oil of cloves as the raw pro- 

 duct. In 1 go 1, however, a patent (No. 310,983) was taken out in 

 France by ViGNE, in which an electrolytic method for the prepara- 

 tion of vanillin from sugar was described. If the claims of the 

 inventor are borne out by practical trials on an industrial scale, it 

 is probable that a further reduction in price may be expected, 

 owing to the great difference in cost oi the two raw products 

 eugenol and sugar. 



There is no trustworthy information as to the extent to which 

 artificial vanillin is manufactured and used at the present time, but 

 to judge from the number of firms engaged in its production the 

 amount must be considerable. 



As regards the effect of the manufacture and sale of " artificial 

 vanillin " upon the demand lor vanilla, it is remarkable that this 

 has up to the present been comparatively slight. When it is con- 

 sidered that vanilla is employed principally as a flavouring agent, 

 and that its value in this respect depends upon the amount of 

 vanillin it contains, it is curious that so recently as November last 

 good qualities of vanilla should be saleable at ijj- to 19/6^. per lb. 

 whilst the equivalent amount of artificial vanillin for flavouring 

 purposes, could be obtained for about one-thirtieth of this cost. It 

 it probable that this preference for Vanilla over artificial Vanillin is 

 due partly to conservatism on the part of the consumers, and partly 

 also to a somewhat widespread belief that vanillin does not wholly 

 represent the flavour of vanilla, which it is alleged is partly due to 

 minute quantities of other aromatic substances present in the plant. 

 Some evidence in favour of this view is furnished by the statements 

 made at various times by chemists who have examined particular 

 varieties of Vanilla, and have isolated in addition to Vanillin small 

 quantities of heliotropin, benzoic acid, etc. These substances are 

 however both cheap and readilv obtainable, and if necessity arose 

 it would be a very easy matter to mix them in a proper proportion 

 with vanillin, in order to modifv the flavour of the latter in the 

 required direction. 



The foregoing statement of the present condition of vanillin 

 manufacture indicates clearly the possibility in the near future of 

 the replacement of vanilla as a flavouring agent by vanillin. 



It is difficult to obtain reliable statistics of the production of 

 vanilla since the cultivation of this product is so widely distributed 

 in tropical countries, and the imports of it into the principal con- 

 suming countries are comparatively of so little value that they are 



