— 23 — 
Another colour- reaction for cassia oil is recommended by Pool^); 
this one has reference to the test of cassia oil for oil of cloves, by 
means of Jacquemin's phenol- reaction. According to this, i cc. of 
a dilute aniline solution is decomposed with so much of a solution of 
sodium hypochlorite, as is required to produce a violet colour in the 
liquid, and a drop of the cinnamon oil to be examined is then added. 
The mixture is agitated, diluted with water, and filtered. Pure cassia 
oil under these conditions is said to give a bright violet filtrate, whilst 
the latter has a dark green colour if oil of cloves is present. 
We scarcely believe that this test has any advantage over the much 
simpler ferric chloride reaction, which, as is well known, is also mentioned 
in the German Pharmacopoeia, as, in the case of a slight admixture 
of clove oil, differences of opinion as to the shades of colour are also 
certain to arise. Once more we can only point out the unreliability 
of colour-reactions, and for this reason are also unable to recommend 
the test indicated by Pool. 
Oil of Cassie flowers. Our examination of the essential oil of 
cassie flowers, mentioned already in earlier Reports 2), has meanwhile 
been continued. As crude material for the oil of Acacia Farnesiana^ we 
made use of the Indian cassie pomade met with in commerce. 115 kilos 
of this pomade were three times extracted with alcohol, the alcohol 
carefully distilled off from the combined washed extracts, and the essential 
oil obtained by steam-distillation from the residue which still contained 
large quantities of fat. The distillation-water, which contained the bulk 
of the aromatic substance in solution, yielded, on extraction with ether, 
315 gm. of a dark-coloured oil. For the purpose of further purification 
this was next treated with soda solution, when 28 gm. fatty acids (caprinic 
acid?), probably originating from the fat, and a very small quantity of 
salicylic acid were obtained. The oil once more rectified with steam 
was heavier than water, had a bright yellow colour, and a pleasant 
strong cassie odour. The yield amounted to 197 gm. = 0,1 7 i^/o of the 
pomade. The constants were as follows: 
^15° — i'0475 5 i "d20° — 1 \ saponification number — 1 76. 
^) Pharmaceutisch "Weekblad 40 (1903), iioi; according to Chem. Central- 
blatt 1904, I, 404. 
2) Report April 1899, 58; April 1901, 18; April 1903, 17; October 1903, 18. 
Besides our principal Patent No. 139635 of lyth July 1902, whereby we protected the 
use of linalool, geraniol, terpineol, ionone, irone, cuminic aldehyde, decylic aldehyde, 
nonylic aldehyde, and octylic aldehyde, in combination with benzyl alcohol and methyl 
ester of salicyhc acid, for the production of artificial oil of cassie flowers, we have 
obtained an additional Patent No. 150170 dating from i6th May 1903, which also 
protects the use of anisic aldehyde, benzaldehyde, eugenol, and eugenol methyl ether, 
substances which we have lately detected in the oil of acacia flowers. We would 
here point out that we recently examined an ^'artificial oil of cassie flowers" met 
with in commerce, which contained 54% ethyl alcohol! 
