STERCULIACE. 231 
_ t,t. 181, 364, may be taken as a type. It is a large tree of 
; the Western Peninsula, Concan, Malabar, Burma, and Ceylon, 
_ and is often called “wild almond”’ in the vernaculars. The 
_ Tamils also call it Kudrap dukku, from the resemblance of its 
_ large follicle to the testicles of a horse. The seeds are 
elliptic, about an inch Jong, and half an inch in diameter, 
covered with a loose black parchment, and having a yellow 
caruncle at the base. A white felt-like layer covers the hard 
black shell, which is brown and velvety within, and encloses 
an oily white kernel of the same shape as the seed. Hach 
seed weighs about two grams. ‘The shells are difficult to 
powder. The felt-like skin softens in water like bassorin. 
The kernels contain about 40 per cent. of fixed oil and a large 
quantity of starch. 
Loureiro states that the bark of this tree is aperient, dia- 
phoretic, and diuretic, and is given in dropsy and rheumatism 
by the Chinese. The flowers are remarkable for their sterco- 
raceous odour. fe 
‘The fixed oil of Sterculia fetida is thick, pale yellow, bland, 
and non- -drying. It commences to deposit erystalline solid 
fats at 18° C., and the whole congeals at about 8°. The 
“ specific sesty at 15°5° is °9277. Saponification equivalent 
266-2. The crystalline fatty acids melt at 29° to 30°. With 
sulphuric acid it forms a thick orange-red mixture, With 
cold nitric acid it becomes opaque and slightly deepens in 
colour; when heated with the acid, it changes to a deep 
_ coffee. brown. The portion of the —— soap of the ae acids, 
approximating that of stearic acid. The fatty acids from the | 
lead soap, soluble in ether, consisted of oleic with a small ~ 
quantity of lauric acid. a 
HELICTERES ISORA, Linn. 
Fig.— “ight Ic., t. 180; Rheede Hort. i 
t Indian Seca tree (ing. ) : 
