OR EAST INDIA BUTTER TREE. 503 



ECONOMICAL USES of tilt OIL, OV ILLEEPEI TREE, 



Bassia longifolia. 



BY THE REVEREND DOCTOR JOHN. 



1st. The oil, pressed from tlie ripe fruit, is used 

 as a common lamp oil, by those who cannot afford 

 to buy the oil of the coco-nut. It is thicker, burns 

 longer, but dimmer, smoaks a little, and gives 

 some disagreeable smell. 



2d. It is a principal ingredient in making the 

 country soap, and, therefore, often bears the same 

 price with the oil of the coco-nut. 



3d. It is, to the common people, a substitute 

 for ghee, and coco-nut oil, in their curries and 

 other dishes. They make cakes of it, and many 

 of the poor get their livelihood by selling these 

 sweet oil cakes. 



4th. It is used to heal different eruptions, such 

 as the itch, ^c. 



5tb. The cake (or Sahey) is used for washing 

 the head ; and is carried, as a petty article of 

 trade, to those countries, where these trees are not 

 found. 



6th. The flowers, which fall in May, are ga- 

 thered by the common people, dried in the sun, 

 roasted, and eaten, as good food. They are also 

 bruised, and boiled to a jelly, and made into small 



K k 4 ^ 



