!42  Manufacture  of  Olive  Oil  in  Southern  France.  { '^'Va°n,'';^o^"' 
cid  ointment,"  but  "ointment,"  either  old  or  fresh.  (I  frequently  use 
blue  ointment  made  the  day  before.) 
2.  The  mercury  ought  to  be  added  gradually. 
3.  The  specific  gravity  of  the  completed  ointment  ought  to  be 
between  1*32  and  1*34. 
4.  No  rancid  fats  should  be  used  in  its  preparation. 
5.  The  excellent  results  obtained  with  old  ointment  as  a  vehicle 
are  not  due  to  the  rancidity  of  the  ointment,  but  the  affinity  for  larger 
quantities  of  mercury  depends  greatly  on  the  degree  of  uniform  extin- 
guishment of  the  mercury  in  the  vehicle. 
I  determine  the  percentage  of  mercury  in  a  commercial  mercurial 
ointment  by  Hager's  method,  modifying  the  latter,  however,  by  using 
ether  instead  of  benzin  for  dissolving  the  ointment  ;  the  mercury  soon 
settles,  and  after  washing  six  or  seven  times  in  a  narrow  but  tall  cylin- 
drical glass  vessel,  the  last  traces  of  ether  may,  by  a  moderate  heat,  be 
readily  removed  from  the  sediment,  which  is  then  weighed. 
MANUFACTURE  of  OLIVE  OIL  in  SOUTHERN  FRANCE. 
Translated  from  "  Phar.  Handelsbl.,"  Jan.  14,  by  Louis  vON  Cotzhausen,  Ph.G. 
In  the  establishment  of  E.  Jourdan  de  JaufFret  et  Fils,  at  Salon  in 
the  Provence,  the  manufacture  of  olive  oil  necessarily  always  begins 
in  the  first  half  of  November,  because  the  olives  become  ripe  in  this 
season  in  the  Provence,  and,  when  begun,  it  must  be  continued  night 
and  day  for  three  or  four  months,  the  length  of  the  season,  of  course, 
depending  on  the  duration  of  the  harvest. 
De  JaufFret  &  Son  employ  eighteen  laborers,  who  are  divided  into 
two  divisions,  working  respectively  during  the  day  and  during  the  night, 
and  producing  daily  1,200  kilograms  of  the  best  oil  from  1,000  deka- 
liters of  olives.  The  facilities  of  the  establishment  are  such  that  the 
largest  harvests  of  olives  can  be  handled  quickly,  so  as  not  to  necessi- 
tate a  prolonged  storing  of  olives,  which  would  cause  them  to  ferment, 
when  they  yield  an  inferior  oil. 
Nevertheless,  there  are  some  manufacturers  who  believe  in  this  fer- 
mentation, claiming  that  it  increases  the  yield  because  it  assists  the  sep- 
aration of  the  oil  from  the  cellular  tissue  of  the  olives.  But  experience 
has  shown  that  this  increase  in  yield  can  only  be  obtained  at  the  expense 
of  the  quality  of  the  oil,  and  that  the  larger  yield  never  makes  up  for  the 
inferiority  of  the  oil. 
