224  Some  Notes  on  Essential  Oils.  {Am'M^;mi:rm' 
Schimmel  &  Co.  give  the  specific  gravity  of  a  normal  oil  of  cara- 
way as  varying  from  0-905  to  0-915.  According  to  Gildemeister  and 
Hoffmann,  the  oil  consists  of  from  50  to  60  per  cent,  of  carvone  and 
from  40  to  50  per  cent,  of  limonene. 
According  to  a  manufacturer's  agent  the  double  and  triple  recti- 
fied oils  of  caraway  should  be  looked  on  with  suspicion,  as  it  is  more 
than  likely  that  a  portion  of  the  carvone  has  been  abstracted  in  the 
process. 
The  difference  in  price  between  carvone  and  oil  of  caraway  will 
probably  be  materially  reduced  in  the  near  future,  as  the  manufac- 
turers are  beginning  to  find  a  use  or  demand  for  the  portion  of  the 
oil  containing  limonene.  This  is  being  sold  as  carvene  and  is  used 
quite  extensively  by  manufacturers  of  toilet  and  laundry  soaps  as  a 
scent. 
Oil  of  Coriander. — Probably  the  most  interesting  feature  in 
connection  with  this  oil  is  the  marked  difference  in  the  price  of  the 
commercial  product.  Oil  of  coriander  can  be  bought  at  almost  any 
price  from  $5  to  $15  a  pound,  and,  according,  to  the  statement  of  a 
dealer  in  essential  oils,  with  the  margin  of  profit  rather  in  favor  of 
transactions  at  the  lower  price.  The  oil  that  is  furnished  at  the 
lower  figure  is  said  to  be  blended  or  plugged  with  oil  of  fennel, 
with  or  without  oil  of  orange,  and  is  guaranteed  to  conform  to  the 
requirements  of  the  U.S.P. 
According  to  Gildemeister  and  Hoffmann,  oil  of  coriander  is  com- 
posed of  coriandrol,  which  is  a  dextrorotary  modification  of  linalool, 
pinene  and  at  least  one  other  not  as  yet  isolated  body  to  which  the 
peculiar  odor  of  oil  of  coriander  is  due. 
Oil  of  Fennel  The  chemical  constituents  of  this  oil  differ  with 
the  source  or  origin  of  the  seed.  German,  Austrian,  Bulgarian 
and  Japanese  oil  of  fennel  are  said  (Gildemeisterand  Hoffmann)  to 
contain  anethol  and  fenchone;  the  French  oil  of  fennel,  obtained 
from  sweet  or  Roman  fennel,  contains  no  fenchone,  while  the  oil 
distilled  from  wild  fennel  contains  little  or  no  anethol. 
In  this  country  the  chief  use  of  oil  of  fennel  appears  to  be  as  an 
addition  to  other  more  expensive  oils  of  the  same  class,  with  a  view 
of  improving,  blending,  compounding  or  plugging  the  same.  Oil 
of  fennel  itself  is  often  cheapened  by  robbing  it  of  a  considerable 
proportion  of  its  contained  anethol,  which  is  present  in  the  German 
oil  of  fennel  to  the  extent  of  from  50  to  60  per  cent.    In  addition  to 
