34 The Philippine Journal of Science 1922 
Alcohol, alone, will probably not be used as a motor fuel until 
a new type of high-compression, slow-speed engine is developed. 
Alcohol mixtures to-day are being used on a large scale in 
the present type of gasoline engine with simple alterations. 
These mixtures offer many advantages and no disadvantages over 
gasoline and are more efficient than gasoline. 
Although no alcohol motor fuel is being manufactured at 
present in the Philippine Islands, two distilleries are installing 
the necessary apparatus for its manufacture. Utilization of 
waste molasses and of the unlimited supply of nipa sap in the 
production of alcohol motor fuel would not only make the Phil- 
ippine Islands independent of other countries for its supply of 
motor fuel, but would also constitute a very valuable addition to 
the industries of the Islands. Since modern industry largely 
depends on an abundant and cheap supply of motor fuel and 
since in time of war the price of imported fuel goes skyward 
and the supply is curtailed, the establishment of an industry 
supplying motor fuel from the natural resources of the Archi- 
pelago will be of immense value to the Philippine Islands. 
THE BURI PALM 
The description and uses of the buri palm, Corypha elata 
Roxb., can be found fully discussed in another article.2? The 
sap is used only to a small extent in the Islands at present and 
gives small promise of any large future development. In many 
places in the Philippines the inhabitants have every need sup- 
plied by this palm: bread from the pulp; sweetmeats from the 
young fruit kernels; houses from the leaves; hats, mats, ropes, 
and baskets from the leaf fibers; shoes from the bark; and 
sugar and wine from the sap. 
In India, Australia, Malaysia, and other places various other 
species of palms yield saps which are utilized for thaking toddy 
and arrack, corresponding respectively to our tuba and vino. 
Among the palms thus utilized may be mentioned Arenga sac- 
charifera Labill., the sugar palm; Borassus flabellifer Linn., the 
Palmyra palm; Caryota urens Linn., the fish-tail palm; Phoenix 
dactylifera Linn., the date palm; and Phoenix sylvestris Roxb., 
the wild date palm. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON ALCOHOL MOTOR FUEL 
ANON. Cassava as a source of industrial starch and alcohol. Bull. Imp. 
Inst. 17 (1919) 571. 
ANON. Fuel for motor transport. Engineering 110 (1920) 120. 
“Gibbs, H. D., Philip. Journ. Sci. § A 6 (1911) 167. 
