456 WEST AFRICAN FORESTS AND FORESTRY 



whole nut. The fat is solid at ordinary temperatures. In 1913 some 

 of these nuts were shipped from the Cross River and were valued in 

 Liverpool as Shea nuts, only at a rather lesser rate. According to 

 the Imperial Institute the analysis showed : 



Dumoria HecJceli ? (Baco or Abaku). — Although the Gold Coast 

 name is given, these nuts are also found in the Oban forest. The nuts 

 are large, considerably longer than those of Mimusops, but rather 

 thinner. They are of a pale-brown colour, with a thick, hard, woody 

 shell, most of which is smooth and shiny, only one small part of the 

 surface being rough and forming almost a nodule. According to the 

 Imperial Institute ^ analysis of the Gold Coast samples, the whole 

 nuts contain 21 per cent, of fat or 605 per cent, in the kernels alone. 

 The fat is solid and of a creamy white colour. The soap-makers 

 reported that it was about equal to middling quality palm oil. It 

 is also stated that dried kernels in good condition would be worth 

 £13 per ton. According to the Imperial Institute ^ analysis the 

 fat showed : 



The small nuts of Mimusops multinervis and M. lacera have not 

 been examined as to their oil or other content. The hard nuts of 

 M. lacera appear to contain a fair proportion of oil. 



In this family, too, are the nuts of Chryso'phyllum Africanum 

 and other species, for which a use has yet not been found. Finally, 

 there are the numerous and fine seeds of Omphalocarpum datum, known 

 as Ikassa by the Benis, which are probably also oil-bearing. 



The next important family is the Olacaceae, Heisteria parvifoUa, 

 known as Ikereoha by the Benis. It yields an edible nut which 

 is white on the exterior and has a black-coloured shell over the actual 



^ Colonial Report, 88, Oil Seeds, Fats and Waxes, Imperial Institute, 191-1. 



