538 OLEAGINOUS PLANTS. 



excessive perspiration, and for rendering it soft, pliable, and 

 glossy, which is so conducive to health in a tropical climate. 

 The oil is white and solid at common temperatures, fusing at 

 from 70 to 80 degrees. It may be advantageously employed 

 in the manufacture of both candles and soap ; in Ceylon and some 

 parts of India this oil forms the chief ingredient in the 

 manufacture of soap. 



Mahower (_B. latifolia) is common in most parts of the Bengal 

 Presidency. The oil a good deal resembles that last described, 

 obtained from the Illepe seeds ; and may bo used for similar pur- 

 poses. It is solid at common temperatures, and begins to melt at 

 about 70 degrees. 



Vegetable butter is obtained from the Choorie (JB. lutyraced). 

 This tree, though far less generally abundant than the other two 

 species, is common in certain of the hilly districts, especially in the 

 eastern parts of Kurnaon ; in the province of Dotee it is so 

 abundant that the oil is cheaper than ghee, or fluid butter, and is 

 used to adulterate it. It is likewise commonly burnt in lamps, 

 for which purpose it is preferred to coco-nut oil. It is a white 

 solid fat, fusible at about 120 degrees, and exhibits very little 

 tendency to become rancid when kept. 



Shea, or galam butter, is obtained in Western Africa from the 

 jBassia Parkii, or Pentadisma butyracea, a tree closely resembling 

 the B. latifolia, and other species indigenous to Hindostan. Ac- 

 cording to Park, the tree is abundant in Bambara, the oil is solid, 

 of a greyish-white color, and fuses at 97 degrees. Its product is 

 used for a variety of purposes for cooking, burning in lamps, &c. 



This tree has much of the character of the laurel, but grows 

 to the height of eighteen or twenty feet. Its leaf is somewhat 

 longer than the laurel, and is a little broader at the point ; the 

 edges of the leaf are gently curved, and are of a dark sap green 

 color. The nut is of the form and size of a pigeon's egg, and the 

 kernel completely fills the shell. When fresh it is of a white drab 

 color, but, if long kept, becomes the color of chocolate. The 

 kernel, when new, is nearly all butter, which is extracted in the 

 following manner : The shell is removed from the kernel, which 

 is also crushed, and then a quantity is put into an earthen pot or 

 pan, placed over the fire with a portion of water and the nut 

 kernels. After boiling slowly about half an hour the whole is 

 strained through a grass mat into a clean vessel, when it is allowed 

 to cool. Then, after removing the fibrous part from it, it is 

 put into a grass bag and pressed so as to obtain all the oil. This 

 is poured into the vessel along with the first-mentioned portion, 

 and when cold is about the consistence of butter. 



The nuts hang in bunches from the different boughs, but each 

 nut has its own fibre, about seven or eight inches long, and about 

 the thickness and color of whip-cord. The nut is attached to the 

 fibre in a very singular manner. The end of the fibre is concealed 

 by a thin membrane, about half an inch wide and three-quarters 

 of an inch long. This membrane is attached to the side of the 



