294 
Some  American  "Novelties  " 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1893. 
SOME  AMERICAN  "NOVELTIES."1 
A  New  York  firm  has  been  good  enough  to  favor  the  American 
public  with  an  altogether  peculiar  kind  of  " Novelties"  of  which  we 
deem  it  necessary,  in  the  interest  of  the  good  repute  of  our  trade, 
to  say  a  few  words. 
"  Ambrettaria,  a  powerful  synthetic  product  for  perfumery." 
Although  the  "discoverers"  claim  this  to  be  "a  product  of  our 
chemical  laboratory,"  "  Ambrettaria  "  is  nevertheless  no  definite 
scientific  body  at  all,  but  a  simple  mechanical  mixture  of  5  parts  of 
musk-seed  oil  (ambrette  oil),  95  parts  of  antifebrin  (acetanilid),  and 
traces  of  artificial  musk.  These  ingredients  were  recognized  and 
isolated  by  us  with  absolute  certainty.  We  determined  the  melting 
point  and  other  characteristic  features  of  the  antifebrin. 
"  Oil  Catalpa,  a  powerful  synthetic  product  for  perfumery."  The 
manufacturer  of  this  product  most  obligingly  condescends  to  offer 
perfumers,  under  this  new  name,  a  terpineol,  to  which  a  few  drops 
of  ylang-ylang  oil  have  been  added,  at  the  "  cheap"  rate  of  $10  per 
pound.    It  is  to  be  hoped  that  no  perfumer  will  fall  into  the  trap. 
"  Oil  Narcissus,  a  powerful  synthetic  product  for  perfumery."  The 
person  who  imagines  this  product  to  provide  the  scent  of  narcissus 
will  be  sadly  deceived.  This  stuff  is  nothing  more  or  less  than  the 
parts  of  light  specific  gravity  which  are  obtained  as  a  by-product 
in  the  manufacture  of  terpineol.  As  this  material  is  of  no  value 
whatever  in  perfumery,  we  use  it  in  our  works  for  cleaning  parts  of 
machinery.  The  price  asked  for  this  product  is  the  trifling  one  of 
$7.50  per  pound. 
"  Oil  Ylang-  Ylang,  artificial."  This  product  does  not  by  any 
means  solve  the  scientific  problem  of  the  synthesis  of  ylang-ylang 
in  a  practical  manner,  which  would  be  a  matter  of  great  importance. 
On  the  contrary,  we  have  here  to  deal  with  a  bald  and  primitive 
mixture  of  cananga  oil  and  Peruvian-balsam  oil  (cinnamein). 
We  are  quite  certain  that  no  one  could  be  found  with  sufficient 
assurance  to  try  to  place  such  products  upon  the  European  market. 
Any  attempt  to  do  so  would  only  provoke  mirth.  And  the  house 
that  dares  to  place  such  compounds  before  the  American  perfumers 
surely  under-estimates  grossly  the  intelligence  of  its  would-be 
customers. 
1  From  Semi-Annual  Report  of  Schimmel  &  Co.,  April,  1893,  p.  70. 
