OILS 447 



oil would possess a more or less acrid taste. The average produce is from 48 to 52 Ibs. 

 from 1 cwt. of almonds (Pereira). When recently expressed it is turbid, but \>y 

 rest and filtration becomes perfectly transparent. It possesses generally a slight 

 yellow colour, which becDmes considerably paler by exposure to sunshine. It has a 

 mild bland taste, and little or no odour. It is less easily congealed by cold than olive 

 oil. It speedily becomes rancid, and should be kept in well-stoppered bottles. It is 

 soluble in 25 parts of cold alcohol, and in 6 parts of boiling alcohol, and mixes in all 

 proportions with ether. It is used for the same purposes as olive oil, in medicine, &c. ; 

 it is nutritious, but difficult of digestion ; it is often used mixed with gum or yolk-of- 

 egg as an emulsion. 



Almond oil is sometimes adulterated with olive oil, poppy, and teel oil ; and some 

 commercial samples of oil seem to be only olive, mixed with a little almond oil. 



Teel Oil, or Oil of Sesamum. The seeds which yield this oil are obtained from the 

 Sesamum orientale, and are much esteemed in South Carolina, where they are called 

 oily grain, and are made into soups and puddings, like rice. The fresh seeds yield a 

 warm pungent oil, which loses its pungency after a year or two, and is then used for 

 salad: it is often mixed with olive oil for soaps, &c. 



Oil of Behen or Ben. This oil is obtained by expression from the seeds of a plant 

 (Moringa aptera) indigenous to Arabia and Syria, and cultivated in the West Indies. 



Beech Oil. The nut of the Fagus sylvatica yields two kinds of oil, one a turbid oil, 

 and the other a clear oil, slightly yellow, and very thick ; it is used in France in 

 cooking, also for illuminating purposes; and the poor of Silesia use it instead of 

 butter. 



Oil of Mustard. The seeds of the white mustard (Sinapis alba) yield about 36 per 

 cent, of a yellow fatty oil, that does not solidify by cold. The seeds of the Sinapis 

 nigra yield about 18 per cent, of a similar oil. 



Rape-seed Oil is expressed from the seeds of various kinds of Brassica ; the seeds 

 are used when quite dry, being often submitted to heat to coagulate the albumen. 

 The oil requires considerable purification before it is fit for use. There are various 

 methods of purifying the oil. Thenard's process, before mentioned, serves well ; Dr. 

 Rudolph Wagner found a solution of chloride of zinc an advantageous substitute for 

 sulphuric acid in the clarification of the oil ; Deutsch recommends subjecting the oil 

 to heat until it begins to decompose, and then keeping it in a gentle state of ebullition 

 for a few hours ; a scum forms and separates, and, after a few days' rest, the oil is fit 

 for use. Warburton agitates the oil with a certain quantity of a solution of caustic 

 soda, which dissolves the impurities; these separating with the small quantity of 

 soap formed, the oil is afterwards washed with water. English rape-seed yields the 

 best oil ; it is used for illuminating, for the manufacture of soap, for oiling woollen 

 stuffs in the process of manufacture, in the preparation of leather, and for lubricating 

 machinery. 



Butter of Cacao is prepared from the cacao-nut, the seed of the Theobroma cacao. 



Plum-kernel Oil. An oil expressed from the kernel of the Prunus domestica, re- 

 sembling the oil of sweet almonds. 



The Cocoa-nut oil of commerce is obtained from the kernel of the nut of the Cocos 

 nucifera, &c. It is a white solid, possessing a peculiar odour and a mild taste. It is 

 composed principally of a peculiar fat, cocinine, and a small quantity of oleine ; it 

 speedily becomes rancid. It is employed in the manufacture of caudles and soap ; 

 it makes a good marine soap that will lather with sea-water ; in Ceylon it is used as 

 a pomatum. There is another oil expressed from the bark of the same trees, and used 

 by the Cingalese as an ointment in cutaneous diseases. 



Laurel Oil, known also as oil of Bag, is obtained from the berries of the Laurus 

 nobilis. See LATJKEL OIL. 



Ground-Nut Oil. This is obtained from the fruit of the ground-nut plant (Arachis 

 hypog&a). According to Dr. Buchner this plant belongs to the Leguminosa, and the 

 fruit is a netted yellowish-grey pod, of from 1 to 3 inches long, and 4 to 9 lines 

 thick, in which are contained two or three brownish-red ovate seeds, of the size of 

 a small hazel-nut. Their parenchyma is white, very nutritious and oily ; on which 

 account the Arachis, which is indigenous to the tropical parts of America, has been 

 transplanted to Asia and Africa, and even to the south of Europe, and is in that 

 climate frequently cultivated and employed for the manufacture of the oil. The oily 

 seeds possess a sweet taste, somewhat like that of haricot beans, and are used in 

 tropical climates partly raw, and partly prepared into a sort of chocolate, which, how- 

 ever, is not equal to that prepared from cacao. The oil is employed for the same 

 purposes as olive oil. It is of a somewhat greenish colour ; and has a specific gravity 

 of 0-9163 at 60 Fahr. 



Colza Oil. See COLZA. 



Piney Tallow. This is prepared from the fruit of the Valeria Indica, a tree which 



