NEROLI IN THE BRITISH COLONIES. 
477 
posure to the air caused it to become crystalline and translucent. Some medals were 
cast with this new substance, treated like plaster, and they assumed under water the ap¬ 
pearance of mastic. A mixture of chalk or marble with pulverized magnesia, made into 
a slightly plastic paste with water, is said to mould well, and to assume extreme soli¬ 
dity under water. M. Deville proposes to apply this substance to busts, and hopes to 
produce a very valuable kind of artificial marble. But another and far more general 
and important application of the discovery is that of the making of cement. M. Deville 
calcined a quantity of dolomite, rich in magnesia, at 300° to 400° centigrade, less than 
dark red heat, mixed the powder with water, and tried the product as a cement. Ex¬ 
periments have been made with this cement in salt water, and they are reported to have 
been eminently satisfactory. M. Deville’s reputation as a chemist gives great import¬ 
ance to this communication in a theoretical point of view. The only question, therefore, 
that remains to be solved is the cost of the new artificial marble and cement, as com¬ 
pared with those at present in use. —Journal of the Society of Arts. 
ON THE POSSIBILITY OF MANUFACTURING NEROLI IN THE BRITISH 
COLONIES.* 
BY J. E. DE VRIJ. 
When on my way to Java, in the month of Octobex*, 1857, I passed through the 
South of France, my attention was fixed by the large number of orange-trees cultivated 
in the neighbourhood of Cannes, Grasse, etc., for the purpose of manufacturing neroli, 
which fragrant essence is exported from the southern parts of France, and from Italy, 
to England and other northern countries. The high price of this essence induced me 
to inquire if it would not be possible to manufacture it in the colony where I was going 
to reside for some years. 
A few month after my arrival in Java I fortunately had the opportunity of putting 
my idea into practice. In Bandoug, the town where I lived, which is situate at an 
elevation of about 2300 feet above the level of the sea, I was struck, in the months of 
October and November, by the fragrant smell of orange-flowers, wliich perfumed the 
whole neighbourhood. Upon inquiring the cause, I found there existed in that part 
many thousand shaddock trees (Citrus Decumuna) whose flowers were the cause of the 
fragrance. This fact appeared very curious to me, for although the fruit of the good 
kind of shaddock is one of the most delicious fruits in the tropic, this is only true when 
the tree is grown in very warm localities, as in the neighbourliood of Batavia, situate 
almost at the level of the sea in about 6° south latitude. 
In higher localities, like that of Bandoug, where the average temperature is much 
lower than in Batavia, the fruit of the shaddock has only the size of an ordinary orange, 
and is not eatable. As the many thousand shaddock-trees growing in the neighbour¬ 
hood of Bandoug were therefore almost useless, I thought it interesting to make some 
experiments on the preparation of the essence of shaddock flowers. This seemed the 
more interesting to me as I found the shaddock-tree growing at an elevation of about 
4000 feet, producing an abundance of flowers. The fact that I once collected from one 
tree in my garden not less than 200 lbs. weight of flowers proves the abundance of 
flowers that may be obtained under happy circumstances. 
I must mention that the wood of the tree is very hard, aud acquires a beautiful yellow 
colour ; it may also prove to be of some value. 
After a great many distillations of several hundredweights of fresh flowers, the result 
was that the average quantity of essence yielded by 1000 lbs. weight of fresh flowers 
was 1 lb. 
Having ascertained the amount of product, the following question arises :—Is the 
essence obtained by me from the pet ala of the shaddock-trees identical with the essence 
of orange flowers called neroli? The result of my experiments in this direction was, 
that the two essences are really identical; which conclusion was afterwards confirmed, 
upon my return to Europe, by the principal manufacturers of perfumes, whom I con¬ 
sulted on this subject, and who declared the essence of shaddock flowers prepared by me 
to be identical with first-rate quality of neroli. 
* Read before the British Assdciati 0 n. 
