OILS. 



87 



tten employed, 1233; fish caught, 333,564,800; oil 

 produced, 2,273,566 gallons. The decadence of the 

 industry is due to the use of cheaper substitutes, prin- 

 cipally products of petroleum. The principal use made 

 of the oil is by tanners. It is also used in the safety- 

 lamps of miners and to a limited extent in mixed 

 paints. The fish appear in large schools along the 

 coast, the southern limit of their appearance being off 

 the coast of Virginia and their northern limit the coast 

 of Maine, although during the past six years very few 

 fish have been taken north of Cape Cod. The favorite 

 resort of the menhaden is from Xarragansett Bay along 

 Long Island Sound, south to the Delaware capes. The 

 oil made from the fish taken in these waters is superior 

 to that made from fish taken farther south . 



Nentxfont Oil. It is claimed that no perfect sub- 

 stitute for this oil has been found, and the use, although 

 limited, show* little variation. It is largely adul- 

 terated, and has suffered in repute in consequence. 



I'n'p'iixi- Oil. This oil is esteemed for lubricating 

 fine machinery, but the demand therefor is limited. 

 The oil is made at New Bedford, which is the only 

 market where supplies are kept on hand. Vc.^el- 

 have been fitted out for the purpose of catching the 

 porpoise along the coasts of New Jersey, Long Island, 

 and the New England States, but the venture proved 

 unprofitable. 



,SV<// Oil. The manufacture of seal oil is limited, 

 and the demand therefor being small, there is an un- 

 certain supply. Very little of the oil sold under the 

 name is genuine seal oil. 



Sperm and Whale. 0(7*. The introduction of the 

 products of petroleum for all the uses for which sperm 

 and whale oils were in former years exclusively em- 

 ployed has greatly diminished the use of these oils. 

 The whale-oil industry from being one of the most im- 

 portant has dwindled to insignificant proportions. Since 

 I860 the decline of the industry has been steady and 

 rapid. In that year the catch of sperm whales pro- 

 duced 73, 70S barrels of oil. and of right whales 140,005 

 barrels of whale oil. The number of vessels engaged 

 in taking the whale was 589, with an aggregate ton- 

 nage of 176.842 tons. In 1887 the amount of sperm 

 oil produced was 18,873 barrels, and of whale oil 34,171 

 barrels. The total number of vessels of all classes en- 

 gaged in the fishery was 1 Ifi, having an aggregate ton- 

 nage of 27,851 tons. The city of New Bedford, M UB. . 

 is still the most important whaling port. New Lon- 

 don. Conn., from ranking second in importance is at 

 the bottom of the list, while Stonington, Conn., at one 

 time having a larger amount of tonnage engaged in the 

 industry than docs New Bedford at the present time, 

 has abandoned the business entirely, as has also Mystic. 

 Conn., once an important whaling port. San Fran- 

 cisco now ranks second, with a fleet of 21 vessels, with 

 a total of 6480 tons. 



T'tll'iir Oil. The use of tallow oil has decreased, 

 and its production is restricted to the demand. Sub- 

 stitutes of lower cost have supplanted this oil for 

 nearly all purposes for which it was formerly exclu- 

 sively employed. 



VKIiETABLE OILS. 



Ccutor Oil. This oil was formerly imported from 

 Calcutta and London, but since 1875 the production in 

 the United States has, except in years of small crop 

 of seed, been sufficient to meet all demands. There 

 are, however, importations each year from Calcutta. 

 which tend to keep the price of the domestic oil from 

 advancing beyond a certain limit. Five manufacturing 

 firms produce nearly all the oil used in this_ country, 

 and these working in harmony control the price. Im- 

 proved methods of expressing the oil have been 

 adopted, by which the yield is fully 30 per cent, of oil, 

 whereas formerly L'.'J per cent, was regarded a good 

 yield. Two qualities are made, although there is very 

 little demand except for the best, other oils being 

 preferred for lubricating purposes. 



Corn or Maize Oil. The_manufacture of corn oil 

 is of very recent origin, and is a distinctive American 

 industry. In the manufacture of starch it is found 

 desirable to get rid of the germ of the corn, and this 

 was formerly a by-product for which no profitable use 

 could be found, the germs being too rich in oil as a 

 food for cattle, nearly or quite all the oil being in the 

 :erm. The germs as collected from the factories are 

 irst purified by separating them from the bran or husk 

 of corn that adheres to them, and are then steamed 

 under pressure to soften them, after which by means 

 of hydraulic presses the oil is expressed, leaving as a 

 residue an oil-cake, which, when ground into meal, is 

 a valuable feed for stock, equal to corn-meal made 

 from the whole corn. The color of the freshly made 

 oil is a pale yellowish-brown, and its odor and taste 

 that of freshly ground corn-meal. It does not readily 

 become rancid by exposure to air, and in this respect 

 compares favorably with the best olive oils. The un- 

 refined oil has a specific gravity of 0.916 and 0.917 at 

 15 C., which is about that of pure olive oil. It 

 saponifies rapidly with caustic alkalies, forming a white 

 soap, and for the manufacture of the finer qualities of 

 toilet-soaps it is found to equal the best olive oil. The 

 supply can be increased to meet any demand likely to 

 arise, and the price is about the same as the current 

 market price of cottonseed oil. An analysis made by 

 an eminent English chemist gave : 



Fatty acids (free) 0.88 



Total fatty acids 96.70 



Unsaponifiable, mucilaginous, and albumin- 

 ous bodies 1.34 



Cottonseed Oil. See COTTON, chap. v. 



l.inx?td or Flaxseed Oil. Although many substi- 

 tutes have been tried, linseed oil remains the most 

 satisfactory in the mixing of paints and for the manu- 

 facture of varnishes and oil-cloths. The consumption 

 in the United States is fully 25,000,000 gallons per 

 annum, and the average increase is about 10 per cent. 

 The number of mills in operation is 65, fully four- 

 fifths being located in the Western States, with 

 Chicago as the centre of the industry. The capacity 

 of the mills is over 40,000,000 gallons, and owing to 

 over-production the business has not been so profitable 

 its formerly. Domestic seed is exclusively used at the 

 Western mills, while the Eastern mills, notably those 

 located in the city of New York and vicinity, use Cal- 

 cutta seed when the domestic seed ranges high in 

 price. 



Mustard OH. Of the two oils contained in mustard 

 seeds the volatile oil is not produced on a commercial 

 scale in the United States, nor is it much used, other 

 rubefacients being preferred. The expressed fixed oil 

 has a moderate sale, being used as an adulterant in 

 salad oils, although the oil expressed from cotton-seed 

 has of late years supplanted mustard oil for this pur- 

 pose. The quantity produced in this country is not 

 important. 



I'l-intnt Oil. Peanuts contain more than 20 per 

 cent, of a fixed oil which was formerly an impor- 

 tant article of commerce, but the low price of cotton- 

 seed oil has made the expression of ground-nut oil un- 

 profitable, the nuts being of greater market value as an 

 article of foo.d. The oil has a bright yellow color and a 

 mild taste, with the characteristic odor of the fruit. 

 Its specific gravity is 0.918 at 15.5 C. It is a non- 

 drying oil unsuited for paints, but is a good burning 

 oil, equal to the best sperm oil. 



ESSENTIAL OILS. 



Peppermint Oil. The herb from which the oil of 

 peppermint is distilled (mentha piperita) is grown in 

 Wayne CO., N. Y., and in sections of the State of 

 Michigan. The herb is distilled by the growers in 

 primitive stills and sold to dealers, although some sell 

 the herbs to those who make a business of distilling 



