a ay eee Seer ny ae ye ee ae Pe Sep atet eene ee 
ROSACEA : 565 
root of the tree is described as discutient and alterative ; it is 
used both internally and externally. The gum with that of 
the plum tree, known in Bombay as “ Badami gond,” is one 
kind of Hog gum or Gum Bassora of European commerce, 
and is used in the Hast as a cheap substitute for more soluble 
gums. ‘The oil of almonds is not an article of commerce in 
India. 3 
Description, &c.—For a description of the fruit we may 
refer the reader to standard botanical works. Persian almonds 
are inferior in appearance to Jordan almonds; they may be 
classed with those known in London as Valencia and Sicily. 
Almonds should have a perfectly bland, sweet, nutty flavour 
when the outer brown skin has been removed. They contain 
no starch ; the skin is astringent from the presence of tannic 
matter. Bitter almonds, except in taste,-have the same phy- 
sical characters as sweet almonds. 
Chemical composition.—The following represents the mean 
: _ proximate composition of almonds from analyses by Fleury, 
Konig and Kranch :— 
Water ve yes sie cas 5°39 percent. - 
§ 4 
Nitrogenous matte és “at 24°1 ” 
Fat one eee ooe aes 53°68 ” 
Non-nitrogenous extractive “ae 723 ” 
Cellulose oes 0° vee see 6°56 9 
sh sae soe see tee 2°96 ” 
When dried they contain 56°86 per cent. of fat and 4-08 per 
cent. of nitrogen. Fleury found that the totalamount of sugar, 
dextrin and mucilage was 6°29 per cent., the last mentioned 
constituent being present in very small amount. Almond oil 
is more thickly fluid than poppy seed oil, but more thinly 
fluid than olive oil, it is clear and odourless, pale yellow in 
colour, and possesses a very agreeable mild taste. At —I 0°c. 
the oil becomes thick, at— 16° C. it assumes a white turbidity, 
and at — 20° C. it solidifies to a white butter. At 20° C, it 
has a specific gravity of 0:917 and at 15° C, 0°919. ‘Exposed 
to air the oil readily turns rancid, and acquires a disagreeable 
