tv 
XIV, 3 Aguilar: The Lumbang-Oil Industry 277 
ufacture of lumbang oil is assured. The number of lumbang 
trees in the Islands is not definitely known, but the information 
at hand would seem to indicate that it is possible to secure an 
abundant supply of lumbang nuts and to make of the lumbang- 
oil industry a profitable business. 
In the purchase of lumbang nuts care should be taken to base 
the price upon the dry nuts. Freshly gathered nuts, especially 
lumbang banucalag, contain from 10 to 22 per cent of moisture. 
The moisture content can be estimated as follows: 
For lumbang bato, take about 1 kilogram or more of repre- 
sentative nuts, and place them in an oven at 90° C. to 95° C. for 
from two to three hours. 
For lumbang banucalag, the same quantity may be taken, but 
the temperature should be carefully regulated between 65° C. 
and 70° C. for ten hours or more. This is extremely important, 
as the kernels of the banucalag nuts harden slightly and assume 
a darker color at a higher temperature. 
Lumbang bato nuts may be stored for a year or more in a 
cool dry place without their undergoing an appreciable change 
in the amount or the composition of the oil; but lumbang banu- 
calag nuts stored for the same length of time, probably due to 
oxidation, will be greatly affected in both the amount and the 
composition of the oil, with an increase in its acidity. No mold 
or fungus was observed on any of the nuts stored. Due to the 
comparatively thin shell the kernels of lumbang banucalag nuts 
can be easily separated from the shell after cracking; but 
considerable difficulty was experienced in trying to find some 
adequate means of separating the kernel from the shell of lum- 
bang bato nuts; nuts gathered over a year ago showed, when . 
opened, that the kernel still adhered firmly to the shell. 
Steaming has been used successfully with certain varieties of 
coconuts, but is unsuccessful in this case and, furthermore, 
darkens the kernel and the oil. The commonest procedure now 
in use is to crack the nuts and pick out the kernels by means of 
a pointed instrument, a very tedious operation. 
LUMBANG BATO (ALEURITES MOLUCCANA) 
Biau (Misamis, Davao); lumbang (Rizal, Laguna, Zamboanga, Batan- 
gas); lumbang bato (Cavite). Lumbang is the name officially adopted by 
the Bureau of Forestry. 
The fruit of Aleurites moluccana is fleshy, ovoid, dark, dull 
green, 5 to 6 centimeters long, and contains one or two seeds. 
The seed is about 3 centimeters long and 2.5 centimeters broad. 
It has a very hard, rough, rigid shell about 2.5 millimeters thick. 
