April 19, 1873.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
827 
copper boiler tinned externally as well as internally, into 
which the roses are introduced with water, in the propor¬ 
tion of 50 measures of water to from 10 to 20 of roses. 
From the distilling apparatus a tube leads into a condensing 
vat of a primitive description, and the distillate is thence 
delivered into vasiform bottles of earthenware. It takes 
two hours boiling to complete the distillation of one charge, 
and the combined otto and water which come over, are 
separated by a long spoon funnel which has an aperture so 
small that it allows the water to escape, but retains the 
thicker otto. The best qualities of otto freeze at the 
lowest temperature, the freezing point ranging from 50 to 
68° F. On an average 5000 lbs. of roses yield 1 lb. of otto. 
A substance of so much value of course presents too great 
temptation to adulteration to be resisted by the conscience 
of those who deal in it; and it is believed that adulteration 
is more the rule than the exception; purity in all cases being 
only a question of degree, and never becoming absolute. The 
adulterating medium is chiefly the varieties of oil yielded 
by the Andropogon grasses, and which go by the names of 
geranium, lemon grass, citronelle, verbena, etc. The oil is 
prepared for exportation by being put up in tinned copper 
flasks, which when filled are soldered up, or in gilt glass 
stoppered bottles, which generally contain inferior qualities. 
An "average year’s crop of Adrianople roses yields about 
800,000 drams of otto, but for several years the produce, 
owing to unfortunate circumstances, has fallen off. The 
produce of 1871 amounted only to 540,000 drams, which 
was purchasable at 2s. 9 d. per dram, f. o. b. at Gallipoli, 
equal to £10 105. per lb. In 1867 the price f. o. b. at 
Gallipoli was 3s. 7\d. per dram, in 1868, 2s. lid, in 1869, 
3s. 2d, and in 1870, 2s. lid, and in each year the Turkish 
customs duties were being reduced 1 per cent., so that 
the duty, which amounted in 1867 to 5 per cent., was in 
1870 only 2 per cent. 
The lecturer subsequently noticed various other vege¬ 
table sources of perfumery, among which were sandal¬ 
wood vanilla, the Andropogon grasses, Tonquin beans, and 
patchouli. Specimens of all these substances were ex¬ 
hibited to the meeting, besides stuffed specimens of various 
species of civets and the musk deer, and the substances 
which too frequently occupy the pod which should be filled 
with musk. The lecture concluded as follows— 
In the department of the Alpes Maritimes, on the 
Mediterranean coast of France, flower farming is the 
staple occupation, and has attained an enormous ex¬ 
pansion, and there the extraction of their odoriferous 
principles has become the leading manufacture. In the 
French reports on the Exhibition of 1867, it is stated 
that the trade in flowers and perfumery therefrom in the 
department amounted to 14,000,000 of francs, and that 
the yearly produce was 50,000 kilos, of essences, 450,000 
kilos, of pomades or scented fats, 225,000 kilos, of per¬ 
fumed oils, 3,000,000 kilos, of perfumed waters, and 
35,000 kilos, of extracts. The flower trade has also 
become an important feature in the French Colony of 
Algeria, and some portions of Turkey are devoted to the 
cultivation of the rose, while in the East the rose, sandal¬ 
wood, andropogons, patchouli, and the spices, are cultivated 
for our commerce. At Mitcham, near London, there 
exist considerable flower farms, chiefly for the cultivation 
of lavender and peppermint, the two substances, in which 
alone, as I have already mentioned, we excel. As far as 
can be made out from the Board of Trade returns, our 
perfumery trade in 1871 consisted of—Imports 
Perfumery, 673,661 lbs., value . . . £66,710 
Essential or perfumed oils, 530,410 lbs., 
value.174,916 
Perfumed spirits, including Eau de 
Cologne, 31,708 gals., value . . . 58,044 
Giving a total value of . . . £299,660 
This of course represents only a small portion of an 
actual trade in perfumery and its materials which either 
escape classification, or are placed under other heads. In 
the same year we exported of perfumery of all sorts to the 
declared value of £135,444, besides of essential oils in 
which medicinal are confounded with the perfumes to the 
value of £226,389. These Board of Trade returns, how¬ 
ever, can scarcely possess the value of a rough approxima¬ 
tion to the extent of the perfumery trade, for besides the 
imperfect manner in which they are made up, the system 
of classification is so mysterious, and the heads under 
which the returns are made are so vague and general, that, 
they possess only a significance of an uncomplimentary 
nature, and can lay claim to no higher utility than satis¬ 
fying the not very exacting official conscience. 
GENERATION OF SULPHURETTED HYDROGEN 
FOR LABORATORY OPERATIONS.* 
BY W. SKEY. 
In a paper read before the Wellington (New Zealand) 
Philosophical Society, the author stated that sulphuretted 
hydrogen was evolved from the surface of the sulphide, in 
the reaction of sulphides with zinc in acidified water, the 
zinc being oxidized and the sulphur of the sulphide hydrized. 
This reaction he now proposes to utilize in the generation 
of sulphuretted hydrogen for use in laboratory operations, 
by mixing well together equal proportions of fragments of" 
galena and granulated zinc in a small apparatus of the kind 
generally in use for the preparation of this gas and adding 
dilute hydrochloric acid (1 to 20). Sulphuretted hydrogen 
is instantly given off, and its evolution proceeds ener¬ 
getically and regularly for a great length of time. A 
little hydrogen accompanies the sulphuretted hydrogen, 
which would not be objectionable in ordinary operations, 
together with traces of hydrochloric acid, which may be 
easily removed by passing it through a little carbonate of 
lime. 
A better method is to use the zinc and the sulphide- 
in mass, connecting them electrically by means of wires 
passing through the cork of the apparatus, which are only 
allowed contact with each other by means of proper con¬ 
necting screws. The evolution of gas commences im¬ 
mediately upon making connection of the wires, and if 
care be taken to keep the zinc and .sulphide from direct 
contact instantly ceases upon their disconnection. For 
this last method it is necessary to amalgamate the zinc. 
THE TESTING OF FLOUR AND BREAD, t 
BY J. ALFRED WANKLYN. 
In the course of my work for the chemical section of a. 
Manual, which Messrs. Smith and Elder are publishing, 
for the guidance of Medical Officers of Health and Public 
Analysts, I have had occasion to make some original 
observations on the subject of flour and bread, which 
appear to be called for at the present time. Notoriously, 
the detection of alum in bread is beset with difficulties, 
and is in a very unsatisfactory condition. This depends 
partly on the excessively small proportion of alum which 
is put into bread, and partly on the difficulty in dealing 
with alumina in presence of the ash of bread, which, as is 
well known, contains phosphoric acid, along with magnesia 
and lime, as well as silica. It has already been insisted 
upon by various authorities, that the testing for alum should 
not be on too small a scale : 100 grams of flour or 200 
grams of bread appear to me to be proper quantities to 
operate upon; and I find that similar quantities have 
been recommended before. The novelties that I am 
introducing are, first, the acceleration of the incineration 
by the use of a jet of oxygen gas directed on the ignited 
mass. This is by no means unimportant, inasmuch as 
otherwise the task of incinerating 100 grams of flour 
might last for a few days. Secondly, instead of using 
nitric or hydrochloric acid for the attack of the ash, I use 
* Abstracted from a paper in the Chemical News. 
f From the British Medical Journal. 
