OILS AND OIL SEEDS. 



Habitat. East Indies. 



Remarks. This is the Portia Tree of Anglo-Indians. It is first men- 

 tioned by Van Rheede. The oil obtained from the seed is little known. 

 Hibiscus Jiculneus, Linn, of Southern India and Ceylon, also has an oil 

 seed. The seeds of all the cotton plants (Gossypium sps.) are oily, but the 

 varieties chiefly cultivated in India having seeds to which the cotton 

 adheres firmly, do not yield oil in such a large proportion as those varie- 

 ties in which the cotton is loosely attached to the seeds, at least to the 

 pressure employed in this country. Hence, as a rule, the oil of cotton 

 seed is not expressed in India. When the smooth-seeded varieties of 

 Gossypium become generally cultivated, their oil will add largely to the 

 profits of cotton cultivation, and enable the ryot to offer the fibre at a 

 price probably below all competition. Under N. O. 31. Sterculiacese, 

 several species of Sterculia, and Salmalia malabarica have oleaginous 

 seeds deserving of attention. 



N. O. 34. DIPTEROCARPACE^E. DIPTERALS. 

 Valeria indica. Linn. 



Linn. Syst. Polyandria Monogynia. 



Vernacular. T r ella-Jcoodricum t Peinemarum, Mai. Koodricum, Tarn, 

 Dupadamara, Tel. 



Habitat. Malabar, Travancore. 



Remarks. See " Gums and Resins." The oil obtained from the seed 

 of this tree is solid. Solid oils, or vegetable fats, are also obtained from 

 Garcinia purpurea (v. infra), and Pentadesma butyracea, of Sierra 

 Leone, N. O. 42; from species of Bassia (as Shea-butter, v. infra), 

 N. O. 135; from Fraxinus hanburii? (Insect wax) of China, N. O. 138, 

 Oleaceae ; from Stellingia sebifera, of China, N. O. 195. Euphorbiaceae ; 

 from Myrica cerifera, of North America, N. O. 208. Myricacese ; and from 

 Copernicia cerifera, of Peru, N. O. 251. Palmse. Theobroma Cacao, 

 N. O. 32. Byttrieriacese, yields what is called Butter of Cocoa ; and from 

 Laurus nobilis, or Sweet Bay, and Cinnamomutn zeylanicum, N. O. 1 78. 

 Lauracese, and from Myristica fragrant, N. O. 180, butter-like oils are 

 procured. In the museum also there are samples of vegetable tallow 

 from Japan and Borneo, the sources of which are at present unknown. 

 For the former I am indebted to J. Ritchie, Esq., late Superintendent of 

 of the P. & O. Company, Bombay. Oil is obtained from the seeds of 

 Shorea robusta, Gsert. the Saul of Hindoostan. The species of Diptero- 

 carpus, yielding the Wood- oil of commerce, have been noticed under 

 " Gums and Resins." Camphor-oil, and Borneo or Sumatra Camphor, are 

 obtained from Dryabalanops Camphora, Colebrooke. For true Camphor, 

 see "N. O. 178," and "Drugs." Under N. O. 36, Ternstromiacese, 

 Camellia oleifera, Abel, is valuable for its oil-seed. 

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