OIL-PLANTS OF FRENCH GUIANA. 



385 



point. The fruits are round, four-valved capsules, about three inches 

 in diameter, and grow in bunches. They inclose a white, solid kernel 

 of irregular shape and firm consistency. To get the oil, the natives 

 boil the kernels in water and let them stand in a heap for a few days. 

 They then peel them, crush them with stones or pound them in wooden 



Fig. 1. Carapa Guianensis Fedits and Leaves (reduced). 



mortars, and make a paste of them which they spread on a slab of 

 stone hollowed out, and exposed at a slight inclination to the heat of 

 the sun. The oil with which the paste is impregnated runs into a cala- 

 bash which is placed to receive it. The negroes on some of the planta- 

 tions put the paste into a bag and press the oil out with weights. The 

 VOL. XVIII. 25 



