SOME ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF PERFUMERY 307 success, as indeed might have been expected in view of its coarse borneol-like character. But it was soon found that it gave such a good yield to the farmer that it could be economically sold at a price much lower than that previously associated with normal Lavandin and it quickly became, by virtue of its strength and freshness of character, an ideal substance with which to perfume all manner of household products. The present production of Lavandin, in the vicinity of 800 tons per annum, consisting almost exclusively of the Abrialis variety, testifies to the success of this particular selection. COST REDUCTION BY MEANS OF CHEMICAL SUBSTITUTION We have seen that development in the agricultural field, whether by cultivation of plants in low cost countries or by cultivation of selected strains, is likely to yield oils of inferior olfactive characteristics. There remains the possibility of reproducing the desired odour by chemical means. Broadly there are two ways of achieving this: (a) The exact reproduction of the desired essential oil It is theoretically possible to analyse any oil down to its ultimate con- stituents, and given sufficient time and money to synthesize each constituent, and blend these in the known proportions. Refinements of analytical technique have made possible the identification of many constituents of essential oils which could not be identified twenty years ago. Unfortunately, the same methods have indicated the presence of an even larger number of minor constituents present in trace quantities which undoubtedly have an important effect on the odour of the natural oil. It would be splendid, of course, if one could decide which of the constituents of the essential oil are vital in determining its odour, and which can be ignored, but this decision has proved very difficult to make. In practical terms the problem has become one of synthesis, with the manufacturer making as many as possible of the identified constituents, and hoping that blends of these will be virtually identical with the parent oil. The results obtained have been disappointing to some extent, and I know of no compounded product which reproduces nature so closely that one would have a moment's doubt that it might really be a natural oil. (b) Reproduction of the olfactive effect produced by an essential oil This is the field in which most progress has been made. It is really an extention of (a), but being less ambitious can more easily be deemed success- ful. The principle behind it is that only a small part of an essential oil can be performing an effective function in the end product. All essential oils contain a proportion of inodorous terpenes which can be completely ignored. Other constituents include some which are unstable in conditions

308 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS of actual use--thus Bergamot oil, for example, is adversely affected by most grades of soap particularly as regards its top note character. Great progress has been made on the chemical side by concentrating on a few newly identi- fied constituents of important essential oils, and synthesizing these and their close chemical analogues. With these chemical materiMs it is frequently possible to reproduce natural effects, and then to go beyond nature by using large amounts of chemical bodies which are present only in traces in natural oils. A list of such items must necessarily be incomplete, and some materials may be not so much new as newly available at realistic cost. The following have proved of interest: Leaf alcohol and related hexenols and hexenals. Isomers of octenol. Isomers of nonenol. cisJasmone and related jasmones. Geranyl tiglate and other esters of tiglic acid. Nerolidol and its derivatives. Ethyl linalol and its derivatives. laevoCitronellol. Proprietary materials related to Ambergris. Publication of details of other important materials is awaited. It must be recognized that a manufacturer faces a dilemma concerning the publica- tion of the results of his own research. Research expenses are high and may be expected to rise still higher in the future, as techniques become more refined. The market for new chemicals is narrow and, even if really satis- factory patent protection is obtained, the loading of cost to cover research expenses renders the chemicals difficult to sell in any quantity. If publi- cation is postponed, bases may be prepared which by virtue of their specific character may receive rapid acceptance. On the other hand, if a manufacturer relies on the secrecy of the formula of a base rather than on patent protection for an individual chemical, he runs the risk that the latest analytical techniques may be used to break down his product. Chemistry is now so far advanced that the characteri- sation of a single chemical body, once it has been isolated, may be rapidly achieved and a convenient synthesis is likely to be worked out without much difficulty. It could well occur, therefore, that another organization would market the special chemical material quite soon after the appearance of the special base. There are two points which appear to fayour the publication of details of new chemicals at an early stage assuming patent protection to be feasible. One is, that this will tend to discourage, to some extent, the application of