3o8 
Pelargonium-Oil. 
Am.  Tour.  Pharm. 
May,  1921. 
cuticle.  De  Bary  (Vergl.  Anatomie,  pp.  93-105),  had  supposed,  be- 
fore the  experiments  of  Behrens,  that  the  oil  originates  between  the 
cuticle  and  the  other  stratum  of  cellulose,  and  then  enters  the 
plasm ;  an  opinion  which,  according  to  Behrens,  is  wrong. 
Concerning  the  situation  of  the  gland  hairs,  there  exist  different 
opinions,  which  do  not  correspond  to  reality.  Charabot  and  Laloue 
(Comptes  rendus,  CXXXVI,  1903,  p.  1467)  say  that  only  the  leaves 
contain  oil,  and  that  in  the  stems,  petioles  and  flowers,  jio  oil  can  be 
found.  From  this  they  conclude  that  the  chlorophyll  is  the  origin 
of  the  oil. 
According  to  Blandini,  of  the  Agricultural  School  of  Portici 
(Bertoni  in  the  Bull,  de  l'Off.  du  Gouv.  de  l'Algerie,  XII,  1906,  p. 
277),  the  flowers  produce  a  larger  quantity  of  oil  of  excellent  qual- 
ity, an  opinion  which  is  certainly  not  in  accordance  with  the  facts. 
The  oil  glands  are  of  great  use  to  the  plant,  as  they  protect  its 
vegetable  parts  from  insects  and  snails.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  all 
pelargoniums  are  but  little  damaged  by  such  enemies.  It  appears  to 
me  to  be  improbable  that  the  exhalation  of  aromatic  oil  plays  a  part  in 
equalizing  the  temperature  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  plant,  as  is 
often  asserted. 
GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  ROSE-GERANIUM. 
The  cultivation  of  the  plant  arose  in  Southern  France,  spread 
from  there  to  Algeria,  and  was  then  transferred  to  Reunion  and 
later  to  Southern  Spain.  According  to  R.  Gattefosse,  insignificant 
centres  of  production  are  found  in  Corsica  (cf.  Parfum.  moderne, 
III,  1910,  p.  73)  ;  according  to  Heuze,  also  in  Turkey  and  Egypt,  in 
which  latter  country  the  plant  is  called  yfr  beledi,  according  to  the 
same  author. 
In  France  the  plant  was  first  cultivated  at  Grasse,  at  the  foot 
of  the  Maritime  Alps,  near  Cannes.  Though  it  was  known  there  as 
early  as  18 19,  it  seems  to  have  been  grown  only}  to  a  limited  extent 
before  1847  (Charabot  and  Gatin,  p.  289).  According  to  the  accounts 
of  Grec  (Reveil  agricole,  May  26th,  1901),  the  cultivation,  once  of 
considerable  importance,  had  deteriorated  in  a  regrettable  manner. 
Immigrants  transmitted  the  cultivation  of  the  plant  to  Algeria,  where 
it  sprang  up  shortly  after  1847.  The  plant  was  first  cultivated  in 
the  district  of  Sahel,  Western  Algeria,  between  Oran  and  Mostaga- 
nem,  afterwards  in  ihe  plain  of  Metidja,  near  the  town  of  Alger, 
