218 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



twenty-five minutes, while the olive oil, under similar 

 circumstances, lasted only eight hours. This oil, 

 according- to the same authorities, is preferable to any 

 other in the manufacture of soap*. 



A bushel of arachis nuts produces one gallon of 

 oil, when expressed cold ; if heat be applied, a still 

 greater quantity is obtained, but the quality is in- 

 ferior. 



The arachis is indigenous to South America, and 

 is very universally cultivated in the West Indies for 

 its seeds, which formerly were used as an article of 

 food among the negroes. It is an annual plant, with 

 long stalks trailing on the ground ; these are fur- 

 nished with winged leaves, composed of four hairy 

 lobes. The flowers, which grow singly on long 

 stalks, are yellow, and of the pea kind. These are 

 followed by oval pods, containing two or three ob- 

 long seeds. The manner in which the seeds come 

 to perfection is very singular. As the flowers fall off, 

 the young pods are forced into the ground by a na- 

 tural motion of the stalks, and are so entirely buried 

 as not to be discovered without digging for them ; 

 hence they have obtained the name of ground-nuts. 



OIL op POPPIES. 



An oil is extracted from the seeds of the large 

 white poppy, or Papaver somniferum, which is ex- 

 tensively cultivated for this purpose in France, the 

 Netherlands, and various parts of Germany. 



This oil is transparent, colourless, and, if well pre- 

 pared, nearly tasteless, having only a very faint flavour 

 of nut kernels : a considerable quantity is sold, either 

 mixed or pure, as olive oil. 



So early as the seventeenth century it was produced 

 very largely for this purpose ; and its sale gave rise to 

 * Nicholson's Journal, vol. vi. 



