. THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 111 



The Elaeis guineensis, the pahn which yields the palm oil 

 of commerce, is a native of tropical western Africa. The part 

 yielding- the oil is the outer fleshy coating of the fruit, but the 

 seed, which is inclosed in a hard shell, likewise affords an oil. 

 Commercial palm oil is of about the consistency of butter, of a 

 bright orange-red color, and of a pleasant violet-like odor 

 when fresh. In Europe and America it is largely used for 

 making soap, but in Africa it is eaten as butter. 



"Cocoa butter" is a fatty concrete substance obtained by 

 boiling and pressing the white kernel of the nut (albumen) of 

 the "cocoa-nut palm," Coats nucifera. The oil is liquid at 

 the ordinary temperature in tropical countries, and, while 

 fres'h, is used in cooking ; but in this country it is semi-solid 

 and generally has a somewhat rancid smell and taste. The 

 seeds of an allied species, C. hutyracca, a native of New 

 Grenada, likewise yield a butter in the form of a semi-solid 

 oil. Several related species give analogous products that bear 

 the name of "copral" when the nuts, broken and dried in the 

 sun, are sent from central Africa, through Zanzibar. This 

 contains 80 per cent of oil which, when extracted, is used 

 in the manufacture of soap. "Butter of canara" is an oil ob- 

 tained from the fruits of Vateria indica, a tree indigenous to 

 the Malabar coast. It is a vegetable butter of solid consist- 

 ence, beautifully white, and requires a higher temperature to 

 melt it than animal tallow. Candles made from it burn with 

 a clear light, and produce an agreeable fragrance. 



The "japuru butter" tree, Erisma Japiiru, of Brazil, is a 

 noble tree growing on the banks of the Upper Rio Negro and 

 Uaupes, and w'hich bears red fruits of which the kernels are 

 pleasant eating, both raw and boiled. Butter is prepared from 

 these as follows : After having been boiled from morning till 

 night, they are well covered up, and put into baskets in run- 

 ning water, where they are allowed to remain two or three 

 weeks. When, at the end of this period, they are spread out, 

 they emit a disagreeable stercoraceous odor. They are then 



