OLEUM RICINI 



287 



The seeds are about the size of a bean, oval-oblong, flattened on one 

 side; at one end is a yellowish caruncle from which runs an obscure, longi- 

 tudinal ridge (raphe") to the opposite end; externally smooth, of a glossy 

 grayish color, mottled with reddish-brown from the removal, in places, 

 of the thin, white pellicle investing the black, brittle testa. Embryo and 

 albumen very oily; cotyledons broad and veined. Inodorous; taste sweetish, 

 then acrid. They contain a fixed oil, 45 to 50 per cent. (Oleum Ricini), 



>*L3* 

 FlG. 164. Ri'cinus communi'i Flowering stem, leaf, and section of fruit. 



and a poisonous principle, ricin, which is left behind in the extraction of the 

 oil, some cases of poisoning have occurred from the ingestion of the whole 

 seeds, symptoms are violent gastroenteritis and collapse. They are more 

 active, weight for weight, than the oil. 



312 a. OLEUM RICINI. CASTOR OIL. The commercial fixed oil is ex- 

 tracted in several ways, the finest product being yielded by the process 

 known as cold expression. It is a thick, viscid, transparent liquid 

 with a feeble odor, and a mild, somewhat acrid and nauseous taste, 

 soluble in its own weight of strong alcohol. On standing, it becomes 



