PLANT ANALYSIS AS AN APPLIED SCIENCE 185 



It serves for many purposes, and enters into the food of some 

 nations. In Spain, a kind of soup, made of oil, garlic, and 

 bread soaked in water, is eaten by the poorer classes. 



The nuts 1 of Corylus avellana give an excellent table oil; 

 it is also used in perfumery. The residue from the extract is 

 used for almond confection, and is preferable to that made 

 of ordinary almonds. A commerce is made in China of " Chou- 

 lah" 2 obtained from one of the Euphorbiacece. This tallow 

 is made into candles, which burn with a brilliant and white 

 flame. There is an enormous demand for them. Many other 

 plants of the same family. furnish this oil. The genus Bassia, 

 of the Sapotacece family, yields several important fats, among 

 which is one known as Galam butter. This vegetable butter 

 can replace animal fats, and is largely used in soap- making. 

 The annual report of the manufacturers of linseed oil alone 

 for one year was figured at high rates, but the manufacture 

 and uses of this oil are too well known to need more than a 

 mention. 



Olive oil in the American Pharmacopoeia is replaced by 

 cotton-seed oil. 3 



The supply of cotton seed Gossypium is obtained 

 from several countries, and may be said to be inexhaustible. 

 The Southern States of North America contribute the largest 

 quantity by millions of tons. A large proportion is not worth 

 the expense of transit, and is burned for fuel and given to 

 stock for litter. A considerable quantity is used in the manu- 

 facture of decorticated cotton cake and oil. Egypt is said to 

 grow a superior quality of seed, and England derives her 

 principal supply from there. Improvements in the method 

 of irrigation are said to have increased the annual quantity, 

 but the average of past years has been about 250,000 tons. 



The seeds yield some twelve to twenty per cent, of oil. The 

 oil in appearance, taste, and smell resembles fresh olive oil. 



The fixed oils are chemically glycerides and are principally 

 composed of glycerin, in combination with oleic, palmitic, 



1 Pennetier, p. 750. 2 Ibid., p. 752. 



3 "Notes on Cotton-Seed Oil," by W. Gilmour. Am. Jour. Pharm., No- 

 vember, 1885, p. 565. 



