356  Scientific  and  T echnical  Abstracts.  {Am-^yJ^m- 
Clove  Oil  From  Clove  Stems. — The  first  number  of  a  new 
journal  The  Journal  of  Indian  Industries  and  Labour/  which  is  pub- 
lished in  Calcutta,  contains  an  article  by  S.  T.  Gadre,  industrial 
chemist  to  the  Government  of  the  United  Provinces,  Cawnpore,  giv- 
ing the  results  of  study  of  the  yield  of  oil  from  clove  stems,  that  is, 
the  portions  of  the  branches  just  adjoining  the  clove  proper.  Some 
interesting  data  concerning  clove  production  are  also  included.  The 
principal  source  of  the  spice  jis  from  forests  in  the  islands  of  Zanzi- 
bar and  Pemba,  in  which  a  total  of  nearly  five  million  trees  are 
found,  covering  over  50,000  acres.  Some  of  the  trees  are  ninety 
years  old.  The  production  191 8- 19 19,  a  banner  year,  was  about 
29,000,000  pounds.  The  stems  contain  a  brown  substance,  which  is 
used  as  dye  by  the  natives,  but  the  bulk  of  the  stem  material  wa* 
formerly  exported  to  Germany,  where  it  was  distilled,  and  the  oil 
brought  into  the  markets  in  which  the  oil  from  the  clove  itself  was 
sold.  The  exhausted  stems  were  much  used  as  an  adulterant  for 
cloves.  Gadre  obtained  a  large  consignment  of  the  stems  and  sub- 
jected them  to  distillation.  He  found  that  the  oil  corroded  a  copper 
still,  and  had  to  use  a  tinned  one.  He  found  a  yield  of  about  4.5  per 
cent.  The  oil  is  pale  yellow,  deepening  by  exposure  to  light  and  air, 
and  turning  brown  when  heated  in  the  water  bath.  It  has  an  irritat- 
ing action  on  mucous  membranes.  It  conforms  to  all  the  require- 
ments of  the  B.  P.  and  U.  S.  P.  The  total  eugenol  by  Umney's  test 
was  93.09  per  cent.  The  free  eugenol  by  the  method  of  Varley  and 
Bolsing — said  to  give  results  within  0.5  per  cent. — was  69.86  per 
cent. 
Clove  oil  has  several  important  uses.  Its  value  as  a  source  of 
synthetic  vanillin  is  well  known.  It  was  found  to  have  a  germicidal 
value  in  treating  some  diseases  of  camels  during  the  war.  The  price 
advanced  greatly  during  that  time,  but  has  now  fallen  somewhat. 
Gadre  thinks  that  the  distillation  of  the  stems  can  be  made  a  profit- 
able enterprise — H.  L. 
Protein  in  Food  as  a  Cause  op  Headache. — The  proteins  of 
food  are  capable  of  producing  headache  in  individuals  whose  protein 
mechanism  is  inadequate  for  those  particular  proteins.  The  articles 
which  are  found  most  often  to  occasion  disturbances,  headache,  and 
other  manifestations  are,  in  the  order  of  their  importance,  meat  ex- 
tractives, fruit  and  fruit  extractives,  eggs,  meat,  coffee,  tea,  choco- 
