1388 APPENDIX, 
SAPINDACEZ, 
Sapindus Honey. 
(Letter to the Honorary Secretary, Bombay Natural History Society.) 
I am sending you a box of dead bees I picked up under a tree now 
in flower in the gardens, Sapindus emarginatus. The tree begins to 
flower about the middle of October, and bears a profusion of small, 
whitish, inodorous blossoms which attract the bees. It seems very 
strange that insects possessing such a wonderful instinct should 
drink the nectar from the flower and get killed in this way; for 
I found them dead in thousands under the tree. The effect produced 
appears to be that of a powerful purgative, and there are now num- 
bers of bees buzzing about on the ground unable to fly, (Thos. H. 
Storey, Oodeypore, December, 1890.) 
The bees sent were Apis indica. It appeats from this letter that 
the nectar in the flowers of the Soap-nut tree contains saponin, the 
active principle of the plant. The fact here recorded has not escaped 
the attention of the Hindus, as Sanskrit writers mention a plant 
or flower growing in Malwa which they call Bhramara-mari, 
hringamari, or Bhramarari, #.¢,, ‘‘ bee-killing,” 
Schleichera trijuga, Willd. 
The seed-oil of this tree, which is known in the Sunda Islands 
under the name ‘‘Macassar oil,” and enjoys a great reputation as a 
hair dressing and means of removing scurf and eczema, has been 
submitted to examination by Messrs. Thiimmel and Kwasnic 
(Pharm, Zeit., May 20, p. 314). It was found that the seeds, which 
contained no starch grains, yielded to petroleum ether 68 per cent. 
of fixed oil, but from the seeds freed from epidermis only 45:8 per 
cent. was obtained by pressure. The oil was in both cases of the 
consistence of butter, yellow, mild in taste, and with an odour of 
bitter almonds. It melted at 21° to 22° C., but after long standing 
the more solid glycerides separated, melting first at 28° and appear- 
ing under the microscope as fine needles. The fatty acids, with the 
exception of 3-14 per cent. of free oleic acid, were present as glyce- 
rides. Of those in combination 70 per cent. consisted of oleic acid, 
and of the solid fatty acids 5 per cent. was palmitic acid and 25 per 
cent, arachic acid, the characteristic acid of the groundnut. Lauric 
acid was not present, and of the yolatile fat acids only acetic acid 
