LAUKACE^E 127
" Specimen C represents the ready oil as our distiller sends it to
Loting-Chow for sale. The specimen was taken from a tin can by
•ourselves.
"For these samples we were charged in proportion to the regular
price of $600 per picul.
" The distillers generally purchase the leaves and twigs and carry
•on the distillation on their own account; occasionally they rent their
stills to the owners of the raw material, mostly planters, or they run
their stills on the latter's account in return for a compensation.
" In Loting-Chow we obtained two more samples of commercial oil.
Specimen D was said to be a good oil of prime quality obtained from
-old leaves and commanding a price of $600 per picul. It did not
-change when brought into contact with water, but separated into
smaller or larger globular masses, showing a few oil drops on the sur-
face. It was of a light colour.
" Specimen E, said to be distilled from young leaves; price $580
per picul. It showed in water a more compact mass, with a thin,
transparent surface, and more oil drops on top of the water.
" Specimen F was said to have been obtained from old and young
leaves and to have been adulterated with kerosene, and therefore to be
•of no use to the dealer; price $550. When brought into water, this oil
formed a compact mass with a thick surface, partly of a whitish and
•striped appearance. Colour rather dark. The dealer stated that he
had showed us this oil only as a specimen of adulterated oil, that he
kept it only as a sample, and that he had only a small amount of it.
Consequently he could only sell us such a small sample.
" The adulteration is charged by every one to somebody else. We
found no suspicious material in the distilleries; there is an abundance
-of pine leaves growing in the region, but their admixture with the cassia
leaves was peremptorily denied; nor did we find any such admixture
in the contents of the still examined by us. Although a few distillers
may be guilty of dishonest practices, there is no reason to assume that
the majority resort to deliberate adulteration by the admixture of
foreign matter with the cassia leaves and twigs. On the other hand, we
may conclude from the existence of adulterated oil in Loting-Chow,
and from our examination made there, that flie sophistication ought
not to be imputed exclusively to the Chinese of Macao and Hong-Kong,
if at all. The fact is, before the oil is sold to the foreign exporters, it
comes from an extensive district and passes through so many hands
that it is impossible to determine where and how it is actually adul-
terated. In Loting-Chow it was alleged that most adulterations are
committed in the province of Kwangsi, where ten or even more
qualities of cassia oil can be had.
" The question may here be raised whether the present methods of
examination suffice to detect the most artful and subtle adulterations,
as also whether the Chinese really possess the requisite knowledge and
skill for such refined forms of sophistication.
" Sample A bears sufficient evidence that excellent oil can be, and
is, produced. This detailed account, however, may indicate what diffi-
culties the foreigner has to meet with when trying to get at the bottom
of facts.
"Incidentally it may be added that the residue of the leaves and
twigs, after having been dried, is used as burning material. The