Am6ciZrS%m'}        Essential  Oil  Industry:  i9o9  485 
Powdered  Rhubarb. 
By  E.  T.  Brewis  and  H.  Deane. 
The  authors  endeavored  to  discover  what  would  be  a  fair 
standard  of  extractive  for  rhubarb  if  such  a  requirement  were  de- 
manded in  the  forthcoming  British  Pharmacopoeia.  They  seem  to 
think  that  the  minimum  of  35  per  cent,  required  by  the  German 
Pharmacopoeia  is  reasonable.  The  quality  of  powdered  rhubarb 
at  present  on  the  market  was  carefully  examined.  The  limit  of 
ash  of  12  per  cent,  suggested  by  the  Committee  of  Reference  in 
Pharmacy  would  include  most  of  the  powdered  rhubarb  found  in 
commerce. 
ESSENTIAL  OIL  INDUSTRY:  1909. 
Statistics  of  the  essential  oil  industry  in  the  United  States  for 
1909  are  presented  in  detail  in  a  bulletin  soon  to  be  issued  by  Director 
Harris  of  the  Bureau  of  the  Census,  Department  of  Commerce.  It 
was  prepared  under  the  direction  of  W.  M.  Steuart,  chief  statistician 
for  Manufactures. 
Summary  of  Statistics. — The  number  of  establishments  reporting 
in  1909  was  68,  with  408  persons  engaged  in  the  industry,  capital  of 
$1,365,438,  and  expenses  of  $1,522,171,  of  which  $184,495  was  paid 
for  salaries  and  wages  and  $1,255,478  for  materials.  The  value  of 
the  products  reported  was  $1,737,234. 
The  average  number  of  persons  engaged  in  the  industry  during 
1909  was  408,  of  whom  290  were  wage  earners,  91  proprietors  and 
officials,  and  27  clerks,  etc. ;  390  were  males  and  18  females.  No 
wage  earners  under  16  years  of  age  were  reported. 
Leading  Producing  States. — The  five  leading  states  in  the  manu- 
facture of  essential  oils  in  1909  were  Michigan,  New  Jersey,  Con- 
necticut, New  York,  and  Pennsylvania,  in  the  order  named ;  in  1904, 
the  five  leading  states  were  New  York,  Connecticut,  New  Jersey, 
Michigan,  and  Indiana.  Michigan  ranked  first  in  1909,  with  products 
valued  at  $486,159,  or  28  per  cent,  of  the  total,  and  fourth  in  1904, 
with  products  valued  at  $240,215,  an  increase  for  the  5-year  period 
of  102.4  per  cent.,  while  New  York  ranked  fourth  in  1909,  with 
products  valued  at  $195,363,  and  first  in  1904,  with  products  valued 
at  $502,014,  a  decrease  of  61.1  per  cent.  For  the  industry  as  a  whole 
the  increase  in  value  of  products  from  1904  to  1909  was  18.6  per  cent. 
