90 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



The seeds of several plants belonging to the Cruciferae family- 

 yield oils similar in character to rape oil and some of these enter into 

 commerce in competition with true rape oil. 



In the United States the brassica seeds are separated from screen- 

 ings and sold to firms who make a specialty of handling oil seeds. 

 One of the largest of such firms is the Gorgas Pierie Co., of Phila- 

 delphia. In the summer of 1914 the writer saw a mustard machine in 

 the Robin Hood Mills, Moose Jaw, and was told that two carloads of 

 mustard seed per year were shipped to Philadelphia from that mill 

 alone. 



Camelina. Brenchley says that oil obtained from the seed of 

 Camelina sativa was famous in the days of the old herbalists. Rich 

 people are said to have burnt it in their lamps, while the poorer people 

 used it for culinary purposes at festivals. The oil has hardly any 

 smell, and is supposed to give a brighter fiame and less smoke than oil 

 of rape or mustard, but it is probably more useful to soapmakers than 

 as fuel. 



Chenopodium. American wormseed oil, official in the United 

 States Pharmacopoeia as Oleum chenopodii, is distilled from 

 Chenopodium ambrosioides, var Anthelmintica. Nelson states that it 

 is used as a remedy for worms, particularly for Ascarides, which it seems 

 to narcotize so that they can be eliminated by means of a laxative. 

 The larger part of this oil produced in the United States is distilled 

 from an herb grown in a section of Carroll County, Md., and is known 

 in the trade as "Baltimore" wormseed oil. 



A sample of "blackseeds" of the same composition as that whose 

 analysis is given on page 79 was supplied to W. J. Jones, Jr., Chemist, 

 Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana, at his request. His analysis 

 was as follows: 



Moisture 8-12% 



Crude fat 10-63% 



Crude protein 15-53% 



Crude fibre 13 - 17% 



Crude ash 6-07% 



N. F. Extract 46-48% 



By the removal of chaff and dirt, a material of fairly high oil 

 content would result. 



The fat content of some of the weed seeds most commonly found 

 in elevator screenings is reportecj by Shutt as follows: 



