OLEUM ARACHIS. 187 



vated very much the fruit Alani, a name still used for Arachis in Cuba 

 and iu South America. A little later, Monardes/ described a nameless 

 subterraneous fruit, found about the river Maranon and held in great 

 csteembybotblndiansand Spaniards. Butbefore^theFrench colonists sent 

 iu 1555 by Admiral Coligny to the Brazilian coast had become acquainted 

 with the" Mandobi/' which Jean de Lery- described quite unmistakably. 

 Good accounts and figures of it were given in the following century by 

 Johannes de Laet (1G25)/ and by Marcgraf,** who calls it by its Brazilian 

 name of Munduhi. It is enumerated by Stisser among the rare pknts 

 cultivated by him at Helmstedt (Brunswick), about the year 1697." 



It is only in very recent times that the value of the Ground Nut 

 has been recognized in Europe. Jaubert, a French colonist at Gor^e near 

 Cape Verde, first suggested about 1840 its importation as an oil-seed 

 into Marseilles, where it now constitutes one of the most important 

 articles of trade.® 



Description— The fat oil ofArachis.as obtained by pressure without 

 heat, is almost colourless, of an agreeable faint odour and a bland taste 

 resembhng that of olive oil. An inferior oil is obtained by warming 

 the seeds before pressing them. The best oil has a sp. gr. of about 

 0-918j it becomes turbid at 3° C, concretes at —3° to —4°, and hardens 

 at— 7°. On exposure to air it is but slowly altered, being one of the 

 non-drying oils. At length it thickens considerably, and assumes even 

 in closed vessels a disagreeable rancid smell and taste. 



, - ^w.x.position— The oil consists of the glycerides of four 



different fatty acids. The common Oleic Acid, e'K^O^ that is to say 

 Its glycerin compound, is the chief constituent of Arachis oil. Hypogmc 

 Acid, Ci«H30O2, has been pointed out by Gossmann and Scheven (18o40 

 as a new acid, whereas it is thouo-ht by other chemists to agree with 

 one of the fatty acids obtained from whale oil. The melting point of 

 this acid from Arachis oil is 34-35°C. The third acid aftbrded by the 



cm 



oil IS 



-v^xuaij jTuvmaic Jicia, v^^-H^-^O^, with a fusing pomt of 62 C. 

 crackle Acid, C^oH^oq^ the fourth constituent, has also been met with 

 among the fatty acids of butter and olive oil, and, according to Ouderaans 

 \;^t.6), la the tallow of Nephelium lapvaceum L., an Indian plant ot 

 the order ^apmcZam,. ,., a 



Vhen ground-nut oil is treated with hyponitric acid, which may be 

 «^ost conveniently evolved by heating nitric acid with a little starch, a 

 jr. 7^^'^ ^'s obtained, which yields by crystallization from alcohol 

 ^^!ndic and Gcuidinic a.oids. the former isomeric with oleic, the latter 



^ and GcGidinic acids, the former 



■ithhypogfeicacid. 



and 



fra 



Production and Commerce— The pods are exported on an immense 



West Coast of Africa. From this 



value 20 millions ot 



'^cs (£1,040,000), were imported in 18G7, almost exclusively into 



2 ,/.'"''K Sev 11a, 1569 ivirt •> "Puval, Colonies et pohtf/ue columale ae 



C'tr ''"" ^o^lS^U^ Terreda la France; ISU 101 .-Mi-da. Le6^.c|.«^. 



'fim.?v '"''"' c/ite Amerique 1586 204 son Hat pri-^cnt, ."on avenir, Paii^, l^^'^i}/]' 



Trrf^'^'on La Hochelle llm -Carrere et Holle, La Senfigambie Fraji- 



4r,., -^ ' ^ ' )sciences nat., Botamque, XIX. (ISo^) ^iiH. 

 '■ -^^''""^ -V-ai. Bradl 1G48. 37. 



