234 LINSEED, HEMP, POPPY, NUT, AND PALM OILS. 



valuable ; and it has lately been found, that a large quantity 

 may be extracted from the cotton-seed ; so that each of these 

 three plants is valuable to man in two very different ways. The 

 hard cake, left after these oils have been pressed out from the 

 seed, is used for feeding cattle. Sun-flower and mustard seeds, 

 also, yield a good oil, which is employed in the countries in 

 which these plants abound, as a substitute for other seed oils. A 

 large quantity of oil is now obtained on the Continent of Europe, 

 from the seeds of the Poppy. It was commonly supposed, when 

 this oil was first introduced into use, that it must partake of the 

 narcotic properties of the plant ; but this was erroneous ; for oil, 

 like starch, may often be separated from the peculiar juices of 

 the plant, without being influenced in the slightest degree by 

 their properties. Poppy oil is a very useful one in the composi- 

 tion of varnishes, on account of its freedom from colour and its 

 drying quality ; in the northern parts of France, it is much used 

 by soap-boilers. Oil is also obtained in many parts of the Con- 

 tinent, especially Switzerland, from Walnuts and Hazel-nuts; 

 this is much esteemed by varnishers, for the same properties as 

 Poppy Oil. The influence of climate on the production of oil, 

 is well shown by the fact that, from these nuts, which in Eng- 

 land would scarcely yield enough to repay the labour of extract- 

 ing, half their weight of oil may be drawn in the South of 

 Europe. Nearly the same may be said of the Beech, from the 

 kernels of which about 27 per cent, of oil is obtained in some 

 parts of France and Germany. 



372. Another important vegetable oil is that known under 

 the name of Palm Oil ; it is obtained from the fruit of two spe- 

 cies of Palm, which grow in several parts of Africa, especially in 

 Senegal. One of these is named Cocos lutyracea, from the but- 

 tery nature of its oil, which is much employed by the natives 

 along the Gold Coast as an article of diet, and which, when 

 fresh, is delicate and wholesome. It is imported into Britain in 

 large quantities, chiefly for the soap-maker and perfumer. The 

 quantity retained for home consumption in 1839, was 276,000 

 hundred- weight. The oil is contained in the kernels of the nuts, 

 which are not very different from those commonly known as 



