POSSIBILITY  OF  MANUFACTURING  NEROLI,  ETC.  477 
the  tropic,  this  is  only  true  when  the  tree  is  grown  in  very  warm 
localities,  as  in  the  neighborhood  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  shad- 
dock has  only  the  size  of  an  ordinary  orange,  and  is  not  eatable. 
As  the  many  thousand  shaddock  trees  growing  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Bandoug  were  therefore  almost  useless,  I  thought  it  in- 
teresting 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,  and  ac- 
quires a  beautiful  yellow  color ;  it  may  also  prove  to  be  of  some 
value. 
After  a  great  many  distillations  of  several  hundred-weights  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  ques- 
tion arises  : — Is  the  essence  obtained  by  me  from  the  petala  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  consulted  on  this 
subject,  and  who  declared  the  essence  of  shaddock  flowers  pre- 
pared by  me  to  be  identical  with  first  rate  quality  of  neroli. 
Another  question  of  importance  also  arises  : — Would  the  manu- 
facture of  neroli  in  the  tropical  countries  pay?  This  can  only 
be  answered  by  practical  experience.  In  Java,  where  I  made  my 
experiments,  the  local  circumstances  are  such  that  the  manufac- 
ture would  certainly  pay. 
But  besides  the  neroli  obtained  by  distillation  of  the  flowers, 
there  remains  in  the  still  after  the  distillation  a  substance  which 
deserves  attention,  if  ever  my  plan  of  preparing  neroli  in  the 
