[Footnote 2: Flueckiger, "Documente zur Geschichte der Pharmacie," Halle
(1876), p 93.]

From a chemical point of view cananga oil has become interesting because
of the information given by Gal,[1] that it contains benzoic acid, no
doubt in the form of a compound ether. So far as I, at the moment,
remember the literature of the essential oils, this occurrence of
benzoic acid in plants stands alone,[2] although in itself it is not
surprising, and probably the same compound will yet be frequently
detected in the vegetable kingdom. As it was convenient to test the
above statement by an examination I induced Herr Adolf Convert,
a pharmaceutical student from Frankfort-On-Main, to undertake an
investigation of ilang-ilang oil in that direction. The oil did not
change litmus paper moistened with alcohol. A small portion distilled
at 170 deg. C.; but the thermometer rose gradually to 290 deg., and at a still
higher temperature decomposition commenced. That the portions passing
over below 290 deg. had a strong acid reaction already indicated the
presence of ethers. Herr Convert boiled 10 grammes of the oil with 20
grammes of alcohol and 1 gramme of potash during one day in a retort
provided with a return condenser. Finally the alcohol was separated by
distillation, the residue supersaturated with dilute sulphuric acid, and
together with much water submitted to distillation until the distillate
had scarcely an acid reaction. The liquid that had passed over was
neutralized with barium carbonate, and the filtrate concentrated, when
it yielded crystals, which were recognized as nearly pure acetate. The
acid residue, which contained the potassium sulphate, was shaken with
ether; after the evaporation of the ether there remained a crystalline
mass having an acid reaction which was colored violet with ferric
chloride. This reaction, which probably may be ascribed to the account
of a phenol, was absent after the recrystallization of the crystalline