46 VEGETABLE BUTTEKS, TALLOW, AND WAX. 



since there the plant is scientifically and extensively cultivated by the Honourable East 

 India Company for the opium which it yields. It has many valuable properties, and 

 is a very good substitute for salad oil. 



Mustard Oil is expressed from the seeds of the common mustard plant (Sinapis), and 

 chiefly in the various parts of India. That our English mustard yields oil, is familiar 

 to the eyes of every housewife who has kept it in paper, or has mixed it with warm 

 water in its preparations for the table. 



Croton Oil possesses powerful medicinal properties, and is procured by pressure from 

 the seeds of the Narpaula, and other species of croton. It is prepared in India and 

 other eastern countries. 



Sesamum Oil, derived from the seeds of the Sesamum orientals, and the Eam-til oil, 

 from the seed of the Guizotia oleifera, are well known, and greatly valued in India. 

 The seed yields from thirty-four to forty-five per cent, of oil. 



Vegetable Butters. The plants which yield vegetable butters, are (besides the 

 palm oil to which we have referred) chiefly the various species of Bassia, all indigenous 

 to India and "Western Africa. These oils consist of saccharine matter, spirit, and oil, 

 and therefore are as well adapted for food as for fuel. 



The Epie Oil is obtained from the seeds of the Bassia latifolia, and is common in the 

 Bengal Presidency. It begins to melt at about 70. 



The Ilpa oil is expressed from the seed of the Bassia longifolia in the Madras Presi- 

 dency. It is white and solid at ordinary temperatures, and until a heat of 70 or 80 

 has been produced. It is therefore well fitted for the preparation of both candles and soap. 



The Bassia butyracea is the plant which yields the purest vegetable butter, and 

 is common on the hill districts in the eastern part of Kemaon, and in the Province 

 of Dotee. It is white and solid at a temperature under 120, and is so abundant 

 and agreeable that the butter from milk is largely adulterated with it. 



Shea butter is obtained from another species of Bassia viz., the Bassia Parkii, in 

 Bambara (Western Africa), and at Egga, on the banks of the Niger. It melts at 97. 



Kokum butter is obtained from the seeds of a Mangosteen (Garcinia purpurea], and 

 is not only used largely to adulterate butter, but is forwarded to this country to serve 

 the like purpose with genuine bear's grease. 



Cacao butter is solid up to 120, and is the produce of the Theobroma Cacao, growing 

 in Trinidad. 



Crab, or Carapa oil, from British Guiana, is also another kind of butter derived from 

 the Carapa guianensis, but of inferior quality. The natives, in its preparation, boil the 

 kernels, leave them in a heap for a few days, then skim them, and at length beat them 

 into a paste in a wooden mortar. This paste is then spread on an inclined board, and ex- 

 posed to the heat of the sun, until the butter has trickled into a vessel placed to receive it. 



Vegetable Tallow is procured from the tallow tree of Java, known as the Minyak 

 kawon, and from trees, probably of the genus Bassia, growing in the western countries 

 of the Archipelago. 



Piny tallow is another variety produced by the Vateria indica, a fast growing 

 plant, common in Malabar and Canara. It is white and solid, and melts at about 97. 



Vegetable tallow differs from oil chiefly in the higher temperature required to render 

 it liquid, and its solidity at the ordinary heat. 



Wax is obtained from a variety of trees growing in similarly 



Outta Podah is a wax of a bright-green colour, obtained from Biliton. 



