474 



.SESAMEiE. 



most ancient documents of Egyptian, Hebrew/ Sanskrit, Greek, and 

 Roman literature, has been used by mankind for the sake of its oily seeds 

 from the earliest times. The Egyptian name Semsemt already occurring 

 in the Papyrus Ebers, is still existing in the Coptic Semsem, the Arabic 

 Shnsim, and the modern Sesamum. The Indian languages have their 

 own terms for it, the Hindustani Til, from the Sanskrit Tila, being one 

 of the best known.^ Tila already occurs in the Vedic literature. In 

 the days of Pliny the oil was an export from Sind to Europe by way 

 of the Red Sea, precisely as the seeds are at the present day. 



During the middle ages the plant, then known as Suseiiian or 

 Sempsen, was cultivated in Cyprus, Egypt and Sicily ; the oil was an 

 article of imi)ort from Alexandria to Venice. Joachim Camerai'ius gave 

 a good figure of the plant in his " Hortus medicus et philosophicus " 

 15cS8 (tab. 44). In modern times sesamt^ oil gave way to that of olives, 

 yet at present it is an article which, if not so renowned, is at least of 

 far greater consumption. 



Production — The plant comes to perfection within 3 or 4 months; 

 its capsule contains numerous flat seeds, which are about y-^ of an inch 

 long by .^^ thick, and weigh on an average yV of a grain. To collect 

 them, the plant when mature is cut down, and stacked in heaps for a 

 few days, after which it is exposed to the sun during the day, but 

 collected again into heaps at night. By this process the capsules 

 gradually ripen and burst, and the seeds fall out.^ 



The plant is found in several varieties affording respectively white, 

 yellowish, reddish, brown or black seeds. The dark seeds may be de- 

 prived of a part of their colouring matter by washing, which is some- 

 times done with a view to obtain a paler oil.* 



We obtained from yellowish seeds 56 per cent, of oil ; on a large 

 scale, the yield varies with the variety of seed employed and the pro- 

 cess of pressing, from 45 to 50 per cent. 



Description — The best kinds of sesame oil have a mild agreeable 

 taste, a light yellowish colour, and scarcely any odour ; but in these 

 respects the oil is liable to vary with the circumstances already men- 

 tioned. The white seeds produced in Sind arc reputed to yield the 

 finest oil. 



We prepared some oil by means of ether, and found it to have a 

 sp. gr. of ()'919 at 23° C; it solidified at 5° C, becoming rather turbid 

 at some degrees above this temperature. Yet sesame oil is more fluid 

 at ordinary temperatures than ground-nut oil, and is less prone to 

 change by the influence of the air. It is in fact, when of fine quality, 

 one of the less alterable oils. 



Chemical Composition — The oil is a mixture of olein, stearin and 



^ Isaiah xxviii. 27. 



- Tlie word GlmjcU (or 0'er</elhn), which 

 Iloxburgh remarks was (as it is now) in 

 common use among Europeans, derives from 

 the Arabic chukhuhhi, denoting sesame 

 seed in its husks before being reaped (Di\ 

 Kice). The word Benne is, we beheve, of 

 West African origin, and has no connection 

 with Ben, the name of Morhiya. 



3 For further particulars see Buchanan, 

 Jouriifi/ froiH Madras throiif/h Mynore, etc. 



i. (1807) 95. and ii. 224. 



■* This curious jirocess is described in the 

 Beportis of Jurien, Madras Exhibition, 1856, 

 p. 31. — That the colouring matter of the 

 seeds is actually soluble in water is con- 

 firmed by Lepine of Pondicherry as we have 

 learnt from his manuscript notes presented 

 to the Musee des Produits des Colonies 

 de France at Paris. The seeds may even 

 be used as a dye. 



