Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Sept.,  1889. 
Oleic  Acid  and  Linoleic  Acid. 
475 
The  cost  of  carrying  the  oil  from  Lang-Son,  the  central  market,  to 
Hanoi,  the  shipping  port,  is  about  4Jd.  per  pound,  and  it  is  believed 
that  to  the  Hanoi  importers  and  the  Havre  merchants  engaged  in  the 
article  there  has  been  a  profit  on  this  trade  (taking  the  average  price 
of  the  two  seasons)  of  about  £10,000,  or  fully  30  per  cent,  of  the 
entire  amount. 
It  is  thought  that  the  lease  of  the  oil-farming  rights  for  the 
season  1«89  will  give  rise  to  considerable  competition,  and  that 
a  much  higher  price  will  be  paid  for  it  than  on  the  previous 
occasion,  the  more  so  as  since  then  large  tracts  of  land  where  the  star- 
anise  tree  is  grown,  and  which  formerly  were  altogether  outside  the 
French  jurisdiction,  have  been  occupied  by.  the  French  troops.  The 
oil  and  the  seed  from  those  districts  came  formerly  into  commerce  by 
way  of  China,  but  will  now  pass  through  the  French  port  of  Hanoi. 
Outside  the  French  dominions  in  Tonquin  the  star- anise  tree  is  said 
to  be  very  scarce,  and  the  territory  at  present  in  the  hands  of  the 
French  will,  they  believe,  give  them  a  virtual  monopoly  of  the  trade. 
For  about  fifteen  years  the  French  have  been  trying,  at  great  cost,  to 
acclimatize  the  trees  in  their  African  colonies  on  the  Senegal,  but 
without  result.  If  we  may  rely  upon  the  figures  given  above,  the 
production  of  oil  of  star-anise  in  1887  in  French  Indo-China  alone 
equalled  about  112,000  pounds,  against  an  annual  production  of 
94,000  pounds  of  oil  of  Pimpinella  Anisum,  according  to  Messrs. 
Schimmel  &  Co.'s  calculation. — The  Chemist  and  Druggist,  June  8,. 
p.  795. 
FALSIFICATION  OF  OLEIC  ACID  BY  LINOLEIC  ACID.1 
By  Geanval  and  Valser. 
Oleic  acid  is  much  used  in  the  woolen  manufacture,  and  the  pres- 
ence of  linoleic  acid  causes  serious  inconvenience.  In  testing  for  this 
adulterant,  comparative  experiments  should  be  made  on  commercial 
oleic  acid  of  good  quality.  (1).  The  impure  acid  has  a  yellowish- 
brown  tint,  paler  than  the  standard.  (2).  The  density  is  higher,  say 
0*912 — 0*919  in  various  samples  at  15°,  whilst  the  standard  never 
exceeds  0*905.  As  the  impure  sample  is  clotty  at  15°,  it  is  necessary 
to  take  the  specific  gravity  at  a  higher  temperature  and  add  0*00064 
for  each  degree  above  15°.    (3).  On  heating  the  impure  acid  to  50°, 
1J.  Pharrn.  [5],  xix,  232-236 ;  reprinted  from  Jour.  Chem.  Soc,  August,  1889r 
p.  799. 
