THE FORMATION OF OILS IN PLANTS 139 



grow soy beans in Australia, South Africa, the United States, 

 Italy, Spain, South America, and even in the British Isles. 

 In the crude preparation of the oil in Manchuria the beans 

 are soaked in water over-night, crushed, and boiled with 

 water, so that the oil cells are broken. The oil is then 

 expressed in a very primitive press. In spite of the primitive 

 character of tliis method of preparation, as much as 13 per 

 cent, of oil is said to be expressed, at the expenditure of 

 much labour and time, whilst modern machinery rarely 

 succeeds in extracting more than 12 per cent. 



Palm Nuts and Coconuts. — The coconut palm is a 

 tree growing to a considerable height, chiefly inhabiting 

 the sea-coasts of the tropical regions. It is propagated from 

 the nuts in nurseries and planted out. About 7 tons of 

 coconuts can be obtained per acre of plantation. The 

 coconut is dehusked and dried, and the resulting material, 

 known as copra, is expressed for its oil. The palm kernels 

 contain nearly 50 per cent, of oil. The oil so obtained from 

 the palm nuts or the coconuts, on cooling, throw out much 

 solid material, which can be used for the manufacture of 

 margarine or soap. The remaining cakes are of the following 

 composition. The coconut cakes vary from about 7 to 

 12 per cent, of oil, from 19 to 22 per cent, of albuminoids, 

 and 10 to 13 per cent, of fibre, whilst the palm nut cakes 

 vary from about 7 to 10 per cent, of oil, from about 17 to 

 21 per cent, of albuminoids, and 11 to 16 per cent, of fibre. 

 The palm kernels are not infrequently extracted with 

 petroleum spirit, in which case the oil in the residue, which 

 is often sold as palm kernel meal, is as low as i to 3 per cent, 

 of oil. Whilst coconut and palm nut cakes and oils have a 

 considerable degree of resemblance, there are some points 

 which differentiate them, both in their history and in the 

 character of their products. The coconut has been known 

 since the earliest times as a food material in India, and the 

 South Sea Islands. When unripe they are often used as 

 drinking coconuts — that is, they are removed from the trees 

 in the green condition, the top sliced off, and the " milk," 

 which looks more like ginger beer, drimk from the shell. 



