62 JO URN A L, BOMB A Y NA TDRAL HISTOR 7 SOCIETY, Vol. XV. 



dried forms an elegant lac-like substance, which may yet be applied in 

 the Arts" (p. 77, Supplement, Bombay Flora, Ed. Soc. Press, 1861). 



Though the oil of the seeds of Jatropha curcas is largely used in 

 lamps in the different parts of India mentioned above, it is known in 

 European commerce as the " seed-oil " (G. Birdwood). No such oil 

 that I am aware of is exported from India. So says Sir George Bird- 

 wood also. 



In a work entitled ll A General System of Botany " by Emm Le 

 Maout and J. Decaisne, translated by Mrs. Hooker in 1873, London, 

 Longmans, Green & Co., at page 698, I find the following remark which 

 is well worthy of the consideration of Indian soap-makers. The re- 

 mark runs thus : — " The seeds of Jatropha curcas [Physic-nut], a 

 shrub growing throughout the hot countries of America, yield a plenti- 

 ful supply of an oil of which soap is made." 



Garcias de Orta, in his Colloquies on Indian Plants, mentions a plant 

 named Jatropha (see p. 79, 2nd Edition, Lisbon, 1872). Whether it 

 is the same as Jatropha curcas or not I am not able to determine. 



The following are the Synonyms of Jatropha curcas, Linn., as given 

 in Hooker's Index Kewensis (pages 1251-1252, Part II, 1893, Claren- 

 don Press, Oxford) : — 



1. Jatropha acerifolia, Salisb. Prod. 389. 



2. J. condor, Wall. Cat. N. 7799. 



3. J. curcas, Wall. Cat. N. 7799 D=Wightiana. 



Note that there is a plant called Jatropha peltata, figured by Wight 

 in his plate 1 169 in the Icones Plantarum which is the same as Jatro- 

 pha Wightiana, referred to above under synonym No. 3. Note again 

 that what Wight depicts as Jatropha villosa in plate 1359 of his Icones 

 is said by the Compiler of the Index Kewensis to be nothing but 

 Jatropha Wightiana. The older writers speak of this plant as Curcas 

 purgans. Beck says it is the Tuva tree of the Philippine Islands. It 

 is also known as Indian nut. 



In a list of five hundred Indian plants published in Canarese at 

 Mangalore by the Basel Mission Book and Tract Depository under the 

 authorship of C. Stolz, the following synonyms are given : — 

 (1). Castiglionia lobata, R. B. 

 (2). Ricinus aroericanus, Mill. 



(Page 11, 2nd Ed., 1891). 



