ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY OF FIJI. 135 



report of the products in the Indian Museum, the seeds yield 

 sixty per cent, of a fragrant green oil, fluid at ordinary 

 temperatures, but beginning to solidify when cooled below 50 

 Fahr. In India it is used as a lamp oil, and also as an out- 

 ward application for rheumatism. Although apparently un- 

 known in the commerce of this country in 1847-8, nearly 

 4000 gallons of the oil were exported from Madras to Ceylon and 

 the Straits Settlements. The tree yielding these seeds bears 

 handsome white fragrant flowers, and it may not be out of 

 place here to remark that there is a wide field for experiment 

 among the native plants of India for those interested in per- 

 fumery. The following note from Seeman's ' Flora Vitiensis^ 

 will show how highly the oil obtained from these nuts is 

 esteemed in Fiji, as well as the method of extraction : The 

 most valuable oil produced in Fiji is that extracted from the 

 seeds of this tree, the dtto of the natives, the tamarind of 

 Eastern Polynesia, and the cashumpa of India. It is the 

 bitter oil or ivoondel of Indian commerce. The natives use it 

 for polishing arms and greasing their bodies when cocoa-nut 

 oil is not at hand. But the great reputation this oil enjoys 

 throughout Polynesia and the East Indies rests upon its 

 medicinal properties as a liniment in rheumatism, pains in the 

 joints, and bruises. Its efficacy in this respect can hardly be 

 exaggerated, and recommends' it to the attention of European 

 practitioners. The oil is kept by the Fijians in gourd flasks, 

 and, there being only a limited quantity made, I was charged 

 about sixpence per pint for it, paid in calico and cutlery. The 

 tree is one of the most common littoral plants in the group ; 

 its round fruits, mixed with the square ones of Barrinytonia 

 speciosa, the pine-cone-like ones of the sago palm, and the flat 

 seeds of the u-alai (Entcula scandens, Benth.), densely cover the 

 sandy beaches. Dilo oil never congeals in the lowest tempera- 



