520 OLEAGINOUS PLANTS. 



It is frequently sold in the shops as palm oil, and of late has en^ 

 tered largely into the composition of toilet soaps. As an emollient 

 it is said to be useful in some painful aifections of the joints ; the 

 negroes deem it a sovereign remedy in " bone ache." The nut 

 itself is sometimes fancifully carved by the negroes, and is highly 

 ornamental, being of a shining jet black, and susceptible of a .very 

 high polish. This tree may be increased from suckers. 



A. sclerocarpa is the Macahuba palm of Brazil. 



THE AGAITI, as it is called by the Portuguese, or napoota by the 

 natives and Arabs (JDidynamia Gymosperma?},i& much cultivated 

 in all Eastern Africa for its oil, which is considered equal to that 

 of olives, and fetches as high a price in the Indian market. The 

 plant, which is as tall and rank as hemp, and equally productive, 

 having numerous pods throughout the stems, is found everywhere 

 in a wild as well as cultivated state. 



The " Cape Shipping Gazette," of August, 1850, says : 



" The attention of the George Agricultural and Horticultural Society having 

 been drawn to the fact that an excellent oil, equal to the olive oil of Italy, can 

 be extracted from the kernel of the fruit known by the name of '' T Kou Pijte" 

 and " Pruim Besjc," they have offered a reward of 10 for the best sample, not 

 less than a half aum of this oil and 15 if it shall be adjudged equal to the 

 best oil of Italy. This fact is deserving of notice, as an instance of the ad- 

 vantages which are likely to result from the attention now being devoted to the 

 natural productions of tiie colony." 



Madia sativa is a handsome annual plant, native of Chili, which 

 has been naturalised in Europe. It grows about two feet high, 

 and produces flowers in July and August, of a pale yellow color. 



The whole plant is viscid and exhales a powerful odor, which is 

 somewhat like heated honey. It requires rather a rich soil, of a 

 ferruginous character. The root is fusiform, the stem cylindrical, 

 and furnished with sessile, three to five longitudinally-nerved 

 leaves, which are apposite on the lower portion of the stem, and 

 alternate on the upper. M. Victor Pasquier, v?ho has written on 

 the culture of the plant, analysed the seed, and found 100 parts 

 to consist of 20'5 of testa, and 73*5 of kernel ; 100 parts of the 

 latter yielded 31*3 of vegetable albumen, gum, and lignine, 56*0 

 of fixed oil, and 12'5 of water. In dry seasons the oil is both 

 more abundant and better than in damp seasons. The produce of 

 oil, compared with that of the poppy, is equal ; with colza, as 82 

 to 28 ; with linseed, 32 to 21 ; with the olive, 32 to 16. 



The leaves and stems of this plant are rejected by cattle ; but the 

 oil-cake, which always contains a considerable portion of the oil, 

 forms a nutritive food, of which they are very fond. The oil ex- 

 pressed without heat is transparent, of a golden yellow color, in- 

 odorous, rather fatter than the oil of rape or olives, and of a soft, 

 agreeable, nutty taste. It is fit to be employed in the preparation 

 of food, in salads, and for all the purposes of the best and mildest 

 fixed oils. It burns with a brilliant, reddish-white flame, and leaves 

 no residue. It is little liable to become rancid, and is completely 

 decolorised by animal charcoal. 



The oil of the seeds of this plant, now extensively cultivated 



