SEED OILS 13t 
United States has been steadily increasing. There are two grades of the 
oil, one yellow and the other darker. * * * The oil is extremely poison- 
ous and, as received from the Chinese, subject to heavy adulteration. 
* * * The crude oil dries with extreme rapidity, but with an opaque 
film, due to the presence of mucilaginous matter, which also causes the 
oil to become waxy at low temperatures, when organic compounds anal- 
ogous to stearates settle out. It cannot be used in its raw state, but is 
always chemically treated. It may be “boiled” with lead or manganese 
dryers, with rosin or with resinates, to hasten oxidation, but must not be 
heated above 350 degrees F., at which temperature it suddenly thickens 
to an insoluble gelatine-like substance which cannot be softened again. 
It is nearly always used in a mixture with linseed oil. Its characteristic 
lard-like odor may be detected in solutions as weak as 10 per cent. 
Brown * gives analyses and specifications of high-grade 
Chinese wood oil and also the correction factor for calculating 
the specific gravity at different temperatures. 
Stevens of Irvington, N. J., and Armitage + of Newark, N. J., 
have compiled a very extensive bibliography of Chinese wood oil 
which they claim comprises the entire literature on the subject. 
This is issued in two volumes, each consisting of two parts 
which are really volumes in themselves. 
In the Philippines, oil is obtained from two species of this 
genus, Alewrites moluccana (lumbang) and Alewrites trisperma 
(bagilumbang). These oils have been studied by Brill and Ag- 
eaoili, who believe that either could be substituted for tung oil, 
as they are quick-drying and give a clear, transparent, non- 
sticking film on a surface when exposed to the air for a short 
time. If the Philippine oils are placed on the market, they 
will probably be used primarily for the same purposes as tung 
oil. The oil obtained from Aleurites trisperma is almost indis- 
tinguishable from tung oil for the uses which the latter chiefly 
serves, while that obtained from Aleurites moluccana is possibly 
slightly inferior to tung oil, although superior to linseed oil. 
Tung oil heated to a temperature of about 200° to 250° solid- 
ifies, and in this condition is unsuitable for making varnishes. 
We have found that oil from Alewirites moluccana or A. trisperma 
may be heated to about 315° at which temperature it distills 
and does not solidify until about one-third has been volatilized. 
In so far as this property is concerned the Philippine lumbang 
oils are more suitable for varnish making than is tung oil. 


* Brown, F., Chemical News, Volume 114 (1916), page 123. 
+ Stevens, G. H., and Armitage, J. W., Patents, technology and bibliog- 
raphy of China wood oil (tung oil), 1914. 
