THE POISONOUS PLANTS OF BOMBAY. 157 



100 lbs. of seed." The oil thus obtained is the celebrated oil of Ben 

 or Behen, which at one period constituted a valuable branch of com- 

 merce with the East, until excessive imposts and extensive adulteration 

 brought it into unmerited disrepute. Dr. Hamilton distinctly calls 

 Moringa pterygosperma the " Oil of Ben " tree. In his Catalogue of 

 the Economic Products of the Bombay Presidency (p. 149, 1862), 

 Sir George Birdwood states, what is well-known here — in the Bombay 

 Presidency at least, — that within his observation no oil is obtained from 

 the seeds of Moringa pterygosperma. The people use the fruit so 

 largely as a vegetable when it is young and tender that it is removed 

 from the tree long before the seed matures. The best fruit for 

 culinary purposes is one in which the seed has but just formed. 

 From what Mukharji says, it appears that what is called Oil of 

 Ben is derived from other seeds than those of Moringa pterygos- 

 perma ; for he says that the seeds of Moringa pterygosperma yield 

 an oil " similar to the Oil of Ben." Not only does Hamilton say 

 that M. pterygosperma is the source of Ben oil, but even Lindley, 

 Henfrey, Drury, Dalzell and Gibson say the same thing. Balfour and 

 others say that M. pterygosperma produces Oil of Ben . Balfour moreover 

 adds that the oil is an aperient and used by the native doctors in gout 

 and rheumatism. Brandis, Baillon, Le Maout and Decaisne, on the other 

 hand, differ from the writers just mentioned on this point. They say 

 that Ben oil, as it used to be sold in the market in former days, was 

 derived from the true Ben-nuts which are the seeds of M. aptera. This 

 is what Brandis says regarding the subject: — "From the seeds of another 

 species with unwinged seeds, M. aptera, Gaertn, of Africa, a valuable 

 oil (the Ben oil of watchmakers and jewellers) is obtained ; but so far 

 as is known, no oil is extracted from the seeds of this species in India." 

 The following are the observations made by Baillon on this 

 point :— a The oil of Ben (M. aptera) is sweet, inodorous and limpid ; 

 does not easily turn rancid, and finally separates into two parts, one 

 of which coagulates (in cold countries observe. — K. B. K.), while the 

 other always remains fluid. It is used in the extraction of certain 

 perfumes, and the more fluid part is often used by the watch-maker." 

 Probably oil might be extracted, says Baillon, from the winged Ben 

 from tropical India, which also contains a quantity of oil, but it does 

 not appear to have been much used hitherto. Le Maout and Decaisne 



