CASTOR OIL SHRUB. 339 



The castor oil fihruh (liicinus communis) abounds 

 in the colony both in a wild and cultivated state, 

 thriving even in the most arid soils ; yet the 

 oil is still imported and sold in the colony at a 

 high price, when by very little attention any 

 quantity could be expressed from the seeds, not 

 only for medicinal, but likewise for domestic 

 purposes, such as burning in lamps ; for which 

 latter purpose it is used in some parts of South 

 America, as well as by the Javanese and others. 

 There are two methods employed to extract the 

 oil — coction and expression ; the first is per- 

 formed by tying the seeds, previously decorti- 

 cated and bruised, in a bag, and then suspend- 

 ing in boiling water until all the oil is extracted, 

 and, rising to the surface of the water, is 

 skimmed off. 



This mode of preparation is still preferred by 

 many of the West Indian practitioners ; but as 

 the oil is apt to get rancid when thus prepared, 

 it is now obtained, both at home and abroad, by 

 subjecting the seeds to the press in the same 

 manner as the almond. The oil obtained is 

 equal to one-fourth of the weight of the seeds 

 employed. The acrid principle is contained in 

 the cotyledons, and not in the embryon, nor in 

 the testa. It is of a volatile nature. Good 

 expressed castor oil is nearly inodorous and 



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