44  Notes  on  Essential  Oils.  { Am  jTa°nuyi8p9?arm- 
Camphor  and  Camphor  Oil. — From  January  ist  to  August  7th,  of  this  year, 
the  shipments  of  camphor  from  Japan  amounted  to  19,042  tubs  or  about 
1,428,150  kilos,  and  thereby  attained  the  average  of  the  previous  year,  which 
witnessed  a  total  export  of  2,487,458  kilos.  It  cannot  be  overlooked  that  the 
production  of  camphor  is  decidedly  too  small  compared  with  the  world's 
demand,  now  that,  both  in  the  celluloid  industry  and  also  in  the  manufacture 
of  smokeless  powder,  two  consumers  of  importance  have  arisen.  It  is,  there- 
fore, urgently  to  be  desired  that  planting  of  the  trees  in  Japan  should  be 
extended,  and  that  experiments  should  be  made  with  its  cultivation  in  other 
countries  with  suitable  climates.  In  February,  1889,  camphor  plants  were 
brought  from  Hongkong  to  Singapore,  but  nothing  has  yet  been  announced  as 
to  the  success  of  the  experiment.  The  percentage  of  camphor  in  the  oil  is 
stated  to  be  so  much  less  than  formerly  that  it  hardly  pays  to  work  it.  Nothing 
is  more  likely  than  that  the  Japanese,  in  consideration  of  the  enormous  market 
value  of  camphor,  now  work  up  the  residues.  Messrs.  Schimmel  &  Co.,  refer 
to  light  camphor  oil,  sp.  gr.  0*895-0 "920  and  to  heavy  camphor  oil  (boiling 
between  2400  to  3000,  sp.  gr.  0*970. )  Heavy  camphor  oil  is  of  a  pale  green  color 
and  oily  consistence,  inflames  with  difficulty  and  has  a  powerful  antiseptic  and 
disinfectant  action.  It  is  a  good  solvent  for  resins  of  all  kinds  and  for  india 
rubber  and  is  useful  to  render  varnishes  flexible. 
Cassia  Oil. — The  quality  of  the  oil  received  in  recent  shipments  appears  to 
approach  the  good  quality  of  that  of  former  years.  The  Chinese  have  plainly 
confessed  adulteration  with  resin  and  mineral  oil,  and  adulterated  qualities 
are  still  quoted  in  Hongkong.  The  following  are  results  of  recent  examina- 
tions of  shipments  since  April : 
Per  Cent. 
Sp.  gr.       Residue  from  Di9tillatipn.         of  Aldehyde. 
Cheong  Loong,  ro6i         8    per  cent,  soft  77 
 1-061         6  "        "  77 
Yan  Ifxmg,  1*058         8*5       "         "  78 
"       "   1*060         7  "  77 
Ye  Tac,  1*062       18         "     hard  45 
It  is  recommended  to  purchase  cassia  oil  on  the  guaranteed  aldehyde 
strength. 
The  following  process  for  estimation  of  aldehyde  is  recommended  :  10  cc.  of 
the  oil  to  be  examined  are  measured  with  the  pipette  and  allowed  to  run  into 
a  specially  manufactured  flask  of  100  cc.  capacity,  with  a  neck  13  cm.  long  and 
8  mm.  internal  width,  which  is  divided  into  tenths  up  to  6  cc,  the  last  drops 
being  blown  out  of  the  pipette  with  the  mouth.  The  flask  is  then  about  three- 
fourths  filled  with  a  30  per  cent,  solution  of  sodium  bisulphite  and  the  contents 
thoroughly  mixed  by  shaking.  It  is  then  warmed  on  the  water-bath  until  the 
curd  formed  is  completely  dissolved  and  there  floats  on  the  solution  a  layer  of 
clear  oil,  sharply  defined  against  the  solution.  The  flask  is  then  allowed  to 
cool  and  filled  up  with  the  bisulphite  solution  (toward  the  end,  drop  by  drop), 
till  the  oil  has  entirely  risen  into  the  neck  of  the  flask  and  its  lower  limit  accu- 
rately coincides  with  the  lowest  mark  on  the  neck.  This  oil  consists  of  the 
non-aldehydes,  whose  volume,  subtracted  from  the  10  cc.  oil  used,  shows  the 
amount  of  cinnamic  aldehyde  contained.     Strictly  speaking,  these  are  volume 
