BOTANIC MATERIA MEDICA, 345 
mous), whilst the female flowers have a three- 
parted calyx and three bifid styles, capsule or 
fruit three-celled, somewhat globular in form, 
and containing one seed in each cell; the out- 
side of the capsule is covered with many tough 
spines. The seeds are smooth, shining, and of 
a greyish-ash color, with brown spots, con- 
nected with lines or veins. The oil is obtained 
from these seeds, after they are crushed and 
denuded of their integuments by winnowing. 
It is then subjected to a treatment with warm 
water, and the clarified oil drained off and fil- 
tered. Castor oilis a thick, transparent liquid, 
nearly colorless after filtration, congealing at 
zero, with a specific gravity of about 0.96; sol- 
uble in alcohol and partly so in petroleum ben- 
zine. When in contact with other organic mat- 
ter, the odor is sweet and of its own kind, taste, 
clammy and nauseous, and of its own kind. 
The oil contains an acrid principle (Récznolic 
acid), palmitin, and a substance termed rzczno- 
lein. The name is derived partly from the 
Latin récinus, a tick or bug, from the supposed 
resemblance of the seeds to that insect. The 
medical properties of the oil are protective, 
demulcent, and cathartic; the dose from one 
fluid drachm to one fluid ounce (4 to 32 grams), 
either alone or in form of an emulsion. The 
oil forms one of the ingredients in the flexible 
collodium. 
Oleum Sesami, Sesamun Oil, Benne Oil. 
This fixed oil is obtained from the seeds of the 
Sesamum Indicum.—Natural order Pedaliacez. 
- Native of India and cultivated in many of the 
sub-tropical countries of the world. This an- 
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