— 26 — 
of all kinds of cinnamon, the present low prices may also be expected 
to continue in the future. 
We have repeatedly mentioned the adulterations to which Ceylon 
cinnamon oil is subject. The adulterants above all coming under 
consideration, are oil of cinnamon leaves and cassia oil, or pure cin- 
namic aldehyde. The physical constants of Ceylon cinnamon oil gener- 
ally alter but little through the addition of these oils, but the aldehyde- 
content, on the other hand, is thereby affected in a more or less 
marked degree. 
With our own distillates we have observed that the content of 
cinnamic aldehyde (determined by the bisulphite method) mostly fluc- 
tuates between 70 and 75^/0? and only in rare cases the limits are 
65 or 77^/0- But the addition of oil of cinnamon leaves greatly 
diminishes the content of cinnamic aldehyde, while raising the eugenol- 
content which in Ceylon cinnamon oil amounts to only 4 to On 
the other hand, cassia oil, or cinnamic aldehyde, raise the aldehyde- 
content. 
In valuing Ceylon cinnamon oil, this fact should be specially noted, 
as here of course cinnamic aldehyde is not the constituent which de- 
termines the value — as in the case of cassia oil. In Ceylon cinnamon 
oil just the non-aldehydic constituents are those which are valuable, 
as they bring about the finer aroma of this oil as compared with 
cassia oil. 
We would once more call attention to this, because, when we 
recently sounded the market, we came across several Ceylon cinnamon 
oils (apart from an oil of cinnamon leaves which went by the name 
of Ceylon cinnamon oil) whose aldehyde-content lay between 80 and 
85^/0; this can only be explained by the fact that to the oils in 
question the distinctly cheaper cinnamic aldehyde had purposely 
been added. 
As oils adulterated in such manner may yet come up to the British 
Pharmacopoeia standard, — although this was only the case with a 
small proportion of the oils referred to, — it is all the more advisable 
to exercise caution in purchasing Ceylon cinnamon oil. 
On this occassion we wish to mention that with our own un- 
objectionable distillates, we have repeatedly observed lowxr specific 
gravities than the British Pharmacopceia allows. Whilst the latter requires 
for Ceylon cinnamon oil a specific gravity of 1,025 to 1,035 {^^5^5% 
we have had before us on several occasions oils distilled by ourselves 
of which the specific gravity was 1,023 (15°). In view of the high 
specific gravity of cinnamic aldehyde on the one hand, and eugenol 
on the other, these comparatively light Ceylon cinnamon oils offer a 
guarantee that they are pure distillates, to which neither cassia oil, nor 
