OILS 



589 



the annual export of this seed from India is from 1 J 

 to 2f million cwt. It goes principally to France and 

 Italy. The price is 40s. to 50s. the 384 Ib. Poppy- 

 seetl. The trade in this seed from India is a fluctu- 

 ating one, ranging from 450,000 to 730,000 cwt. ; 

 the exports are chiefly to France and Belgium. 

 The seeds yield 45 per cent, of oil, which is used 

 for culinary purposes. The seed sells at about 43s. 

 the bag of 368 Ib. Castor-oil seed.Yrom 600,000 

 to 700,000 cwt. of this seed are exported annually 

 from India, and 2,000,000 to 2,600,000 gal. of the 

 castor-oil. The expression of the oil is chiejly 

 carried on in Italy and America, besides India. 

 The various species of Bassia of India and Africa 

 yield good oils, some of which are semi-solid and 

 esteemed for soap-making. Under the name of 

 Mahwa about 100,000 cwt. are shipped from India 

 (see BUTTER-TREE). One or two species of 

 Aleurites produce what are known as candle-nuts 

 in commerce ; these yield 50 per cent, of oil. Some 

 species of Garcinia yield kokum-butter, which is 

 nsed as a snl>stitute for ghee or clarified butter by 

 the poorer classes of India. Many species of nuts, 

 such as the Brazil, hazel, walnut, and others, 

 yield oil which is used locally, but does not enter 

 largely into commerce. In China oil is obtained 

 from the Soy bean (Soja hispiila), and it yields 

 about 18 per cent, of a drying oil. The bean-cake 

 is employed for feeding men and animals, and is 

 also largely nsed for manure. Another oil made 

 there is from the seed or fruit of the Camellia olei- 

 fern. It is of remarkable purity, of an amber 

 colour, and possesses a pleasant taste. In the 

 United States corn or maize oil and pea-nnt oil are 

 manufactured, as well as cotton-seed oil, linseed-oil, 

 and castor oil. The cocoa seeds or beans of commerce 

 contain from 18 to 20 per cent, of a concrete fat, 

 which being separated in the preparation of cocoa 

 and chocolate, throws a large amount of cocoa- 

 butter on the market. Several thousand tons of it 

 in flattened cakes are now sold annually in London 

 and Holland. It is used for pharmaceutical pur- 

 poses ami confectionery. Nutmeg-butter, Galam 

 butter ( Bassia ), Campa, Carnanba, and certain 

 vegetable tallows and waxes partake of this solid 

 character. 



Animal Oils. The principal solid animal oils 

 found in commerce are butter and lard, tallow, mares' 

 grease, neat's-foot oil, and unrefined yolk of egg oil. 

 The first two are fully descrilwd under their names. 

 Tallow is the fat of oxen and sheep, but more 

 especially the fat which envelops the kidneys and 

 other parts of the viscera, rendered down or melted. 

 The qualities of this solid oil make it particularly 

 well adapted fcr making candles, ana until the 

 end of the first quarter of the 19th century 

 candles for ordinary use were almost wholly made 

 of it. Britain obtains probably al>out 60,000 tons 

 of tallow yearly at home, and receives as much 

 from abroad, chiefly imported from North and 

 South America and Australia. Russia used to 

 furnish the chief supply, hut the pastoral pro- 

 gress in the new countries has quite changed 

 the sources of supply of animal fats. The imports 

 of tallow and stearin do not vary greatly from 

 year to year; they were, in 1870, 1,523,298 

 cwt.; 1880, 1,316,379 cwt.; 1890, 1,385,517 cwt. 

 The value of the last-named year's imports was 

 1,729,349. The oleins, obtained by pressure from 

 animal fate, are known in commerce as tallow- 

 olein, lard-olein, and neat's-foot oil ; they come 

 next in value to sperm-oil. The two former are 

 included under animal oils. Many thousand tons 

 of these oleins are sent from the United States 

 to Europe for artificial butter-making. Besides the 

 home production of butter, which is large (about 

 130,000 tons), the United Kingdom imported in 

 1890 over 100,000 tons, valued at 10,500,000, 



and 54,000 tons of an artificial compound pre- 

 pared from tallow, chiefly in Holland, and which 

 has to be labelled as 'margarine' when sold ; for 

 this more than 3,000,000 is paid (see BUTTER- 

 INE). Of lard-oil Britain imports 91,000 cwt., 

 besides alxnit 27,000 cwt. of other animal oils, 

 such as mares' grease, tallow-oil, &c. Lard-oil 

 from which the stearin has not been pressed is 

 known as 'neutral oil.' An olein is extracted 

 from beef-suet in the United States, of which 

 there are three qualities. Several thousand tons 

 of this animal oil are sent from Chicago to Holland 

 for the manufacture of oleomargarine. The export 

 of this olein from the United States averages now 

 30,000,000 Ib. yearly, valued at 600,000. Horse- 

 grease is received from the River Plate states, 

 where there are over five million horses. The 

 mares, which are never used for the saddle, are 

 annually slaughtered in large numbers in the 

 republics of Uruguay and Argentine. A little 

 horse-grease is also obtained in Britain from the 

 slaughtered horses, 400 to 500 dying weekly in 

 London alone. They furnish about 28 Ib. of grease 

 each, which is valuable as a lubricant. Neafs-foot 

 oil is obtained in boiling down the feet of cattle. 

 It does not turn rancid, and remains fluid at 32. 

 When part of its stearin has been abstracted it is 

 used for oiling church and steeple clocks (as it 

 does not solidify ), for softening leather, and other 

 purposes. In North America, where swine are bred 

 so largely, the melted fat of the pig^ is a very 

 important secondary product. The United States, 

 with its 50 million pigs, sends away lard to the 

 value of 5,500,000 yearly. It is a very important 

 food-product, and in the West Indies it is much 

 used instead of butter. The imports of lard from 

 America into Britain now average 60,000 tons 

 yearly, of the value of 2,000,000. The imports 

 increased fivefold in 1870-90. Another animal fat 

 is the suint obtained in the process of washing 

 wool. This pota-ssic sudorate forms no less than a 

 third of the weight of raw wool in the grease. 



Marine oils are obtained from various mammals 

 and fishes in different localities. Much of the oil 

 obtained passes under the general name of ' train- 

 oil.' The whale-fishing has been much abandoned 

 of late years by the nations which formerly pursued 

 it ; but the seal-fishing, which is less precarious 

 and hazardous, is extensively prosecuted. The 

 value of the oil shipped from Newfoundland annu- 

 ally exceeds 100,000. The average value of the 

 fish-oil imported into Britain is only about 

 420,000; about 1880 it used to be double that 

 amount. In America and the north of Europe fish 

 oils are principally obtained from the liver of the 

 cod and shark, from the dogfish, porpoise, Men- 

 haden (q.v.), pilchard, herring, sardine, and other 

 Clupea. In the Mediterranean the tunny yields a 

 large quantity of oil, extracted by boiling, often in 

 sea-water. It is of a pale amber colour and an 

 agreeable flavour. 



Fish oils are often confounded with the oils 

 obtained from the blubber of the whale, seal, and 

 other marine mammals, and their oil is much mixed 

 with these. The great trade in animal oils and 

 fatty substances indicates the care with which oily 

 matters rich in carbon and hydrogen are sought for, 

 supplying as they do a great number of wants in 

 countries the most civilised as well as among 

 people still in their primitive state. Some of these 

 oleaginous substances are employed as food by 

 man, some in manufactures, and others in medi- 

 cine. The fish oils are usually thick, with a strong 

 odour, and of different colours, according to quality 

 and preparation, ranging from white to blonde and 

 brown. In northern countries they still serve for 

 illumination, but of late years have been largely 

 superseded in this use by gas, petroleum, aim 



