38, The Fats of Garcinial species. 



Bj David Hooper. 



Tliougli frequently alluded to in works on the economic 

 products of India very little is known regarding the fat expressed 

 from the seeds of species of Qarainia. Kokam butter, the 

 conciete oil of G, indica^ is an article of commerce in Bombay, 

 The seeds of 0, echtnocar^pa, Thw., the 'Madol* of Ceylon, affords 

 a thick oil used by the Cinghalese for burning in their lamps. 

 Regarding G, cambogm, Desrouss, Cherry mentions an oil 

 obtained from the tree which is used in the j^ilgiris for medicine. 

 The seeds of (?. tonkinensis yield an oil in Cochin China. In 

 addition to these, the Gamboge tree G. morella, Desrouss, yields a 

 semi-solid fat which has long been used in Mysore for domestic 

 purposes. 



In 1857, a *' Report upon the oils of Southern India " was 

 made by Lieut. H. P. Hawkes. Tlds valuable paper was an out- 

 come of tlie Jury Report of the Madras Exhibition of 1855, and 

 embodied all the information on tlie subject of Indian fixed oils 

 collected up to that date, much of which has recently been over- 

 looked. Under *^ Gamboge Butter," the author has the following 

 remarks ; 



"A semi-solid oil obtained from the seeds of Garcima ptctona 

 (of Roxburgh, now G. morellcty Desrouss), growing abundantly in 

 certain parts of Mysore and in the Westei^n Coast jungles, especially 

 near Cooly Droog. The oil which is procurable in moderate 

 quantities, is prepared by pounding the seed in a stone mortar, 

 and boiling the mass until the butter or oil rises to the surface; 

 or by first roasting tlie seeds, and then proceeding as above. Two 

 nnd a half measures of seed should yield one and a half seers of 



butter. 



" In the Nugger division of Mysore it is sold at the rate of 

 as. 1-4 per seer of Rs. 24 weight or £36-6 per ton : it is used as 

 a lamp oil, and by the poorer classes as a substitute for ghee. 

 The butter thus prepared does not seem to possess any of the 

 purgative properties of the gamboge resin/* 



The tree is common in forests of Western India up to 3,500 

 feet, and extends for fully 120 miles along the Malabar ghats ; it 

 is also frequent in Ceylon. Except repeating what has been given 

 in the above extract, Cooke, Talbot and Watt give no further 

 particulars regarding the fat of the seeds. In the revised edition 

 (1903) of " Animal and Vegetable Oils and Tats,*' by Dr. C. R. 

 Alder Wri^^rht, the editor under Garcinia morella remarks: 

 ** Furnishes Gamboge butter concerning the chemical constitution 

 of which little or nothing is known." 



It was, therefore, with great interest that I received, a short 



