PALM OIL AND KERNELS. 31 



tion of the oil, is that of Phillips, a native of Lagos ; an 

 early model of this machine was patented in 1907 (English 

 Pat. 9733), and an improved form in 1912 (English Pat. 

 18370). It consists of a smooth cylinder mounted inside 

 a cylindrical casing and around a shaft bearing beaters. 

 The outer cylinder carries a water tank with a valve 

 to control the flow of water, while the inner cylinder 

 carries on the lower side a sliding sieve to separate the 

 oil and water from the nuts and fibrous waste ; this 

 arrangement of the sieve allows its removal so that the 

 exhausted material can be discharged through a space 

 in the inner cylinder. This machine was exhibited at 

 the International Rubber and Tropical Products Exhi- 

 bition held in London in 1914, and according to the 

 advertisements issued at that time, it cost 5. Although 

 little is known with regard to the efficiency of oil extrac- 

 tion by this machine, it should prove useful in econo- 

 mising time and labour in the preparation of palm oil 

 on a small scale by natives. 



The first power-driven machinery for cracking palm 

 nuts is believed to have been introduced into West 

 Africa in 1877 by Mr. C. A. Moore, of Liverpool, and 

 was devised by Messrs. Mather & Platt, Ltd.. of Salford. 

 Hand machines were introduced about 15 or 20 years 

 later. 



In 1901 a prize offered by the Kolonial Wirtschaft- 

 lichen Kommittee of the German Kolonialgesellschaft 

 (Verhand. Kol. Wirt. Kom., 1909, No. 1, p. 54) was 

 awarded for a complete set of small machines constructed 

 by the firm of F. Haake in Berlin and designed to ex- 

 tract palm oil from the fruit and also to crack the nuts 

 and liberate the kernels. Plant made by this firm was 



