— i8 — 
acid anhydride had been added, was heated on the water bath for 
3 to 4 hours, with frequent shaking, and the phthalic acid compound 
formed was converted in the usual manner into the sodium salt of 
phthalic ester acid. When the strongly foaming solution of phthalic 
ester salt, which had been extracted 4 to 5 times with ether, was 
saponified, borneol was obtained, which could readily be abstracted 
from the alkaline liquid by steam distillation. The compound, re- 
peatedly purified from petroleum ether, crystallised in hexagonal leaflets, 
and melted at 203°. Oxidation with chromic acid and glacial acetic 
acid, at the temperature of the water bath, led to camphor of the 
melting point 176°. The semicarbazone produced from the latter melted 
at 236° 
Cananga Oil. From the Head of the Government Medical Depot 
of Bangkok, Mr. H. Willems, we received a cananga oil which had 
been distilled from the fresh and dried blossoms of cultivated cananga 
trees. The physical constants of this pale- yellowish oil were as follows: 
dj^50 = 0,9200; Qj) = — 51^40'; acid number = 1,82; ester number 
= 34,17. In 10 volumes 90 ^/^ alcohol the oil was insoluble, but 
of 95 ^/q alcohol 0,5 volume sufficed for making a solution, which, 
however, again became turbid when more alcohol was added. The 
odour of the oil showed a great similarity to that of ordinary cananga 
oil, but left something to be desired with regard to delicacy. This 
drawback, though, may in future possibly be removed by a more rational 
method of production. 
According to Mr. Willems, the Menam valley appears to be very 
suitable for the cultivation of the cananga tree. Experiments in this 
direction have already been made, and have also been extended to 
other cananga varieties which, according to Siamese taste, produce a 
finer odour; but these species do not blossom so abundantly. 
Caraway Oil. The stocks of last year's seeds from the districts 
preferred by us, have dwindled considerably, and the prices have recently 
hardened by about i florin per 100 kilos. Probably little will change 
until the autumn, as sufficient stocks of the ordinary commercial quality 
are said still to exist. With regard to the quantity sown, nothing can 
as yet be said, owing to the delay in the tilling of the fields due to 
the frost. Some small parcels of good value were placed on the market 
from Sweden, but in that country the producers are only with diffi- 
culty becoming accustomed to the low prices. 
Cassia Oil. During the last six months only unimportant fluc- 
tuations have taken place in the price of this important article. Only 
within the last few weeks the value has exceeded the normal limit 
of 3/- per lb., and in the high-quality oils a scarcity has become per- 
ceptible which may easily bring about a further rise of a few pence. 
