168 



VEGETABLE OILS. 



Cacao, from Theobroma Cacao; of Cinnamon, from Cmnamomum 

 zeylanicum ; of Nutmeg, from Myristica moschata ; of Coco-nut, from 

 Cocos nucifera ; of Laurel, from Laurus nobilis ; Palm oil, from Elais 

 guineensis; Shea butter, from Bassia Parkii; Galam butter, from 

 Bassia butyracea ; and Vegetable tallow, from Stillingia sebifera in 

 China, from Vateria indioa in India, and from Pentadesma butyracea 

 in Sierra Leone. These oils contain a large amount of stearin, and are 

 used as substitutes for fat. Castor Oil, from the seeds of Eicinus 

 communis, differs from other fixed oils in its composition. 



DecandoUe gives the following table to show the quantity of oil 

 got from seeds : — 



White Mustard 36 per cent by weight. 



Vegetable Wax is a peculiar fatty matter sometimes found in 

 the stem and fruit of plants. It is procured from several species of 

 Palms, as Ceroxylon Andicola, and Copernicia cerifera, and from the 

 fruit of Myrica cerifera (candle-berry myrtle) and Myrica cordifolia. 

 By boiling these plants in water and compressing them the wax exudes, 

 floats on the water, and may be collected and melted. It is of a 

 greenish yellow colour. By saponification it yields stearic, margaric, 

 and oleic acids, along with glycerin. It therefore more nearly approxi- 

 mated the character of fat than that of wax. Waxy matter also 

 occurs on the exterior of fruits, giving rise to the bloom of grapes, 

 plums, etc., on the outer surface of the bracts of Musa paradisiaca, 

 and on the leaves of many species of Encephalartos. In Cork there 

 exists a fatty substance which, when acted upon by nitric acid, yields 

 suberic acid. Chlorophyll, or the green colouring matter of leaves, 

 is allied to wax in its nature, being soluble in ether and alcohol, but 

 insoluble in water. 



Volatile oe Essential Oils occur in the stem, leaves, flowers, 

 and fruit of many odoriferous plants, and are procured by distillation 

 along with water. They are called essences, and contain the concen- 

 trated odour of the plant. They usually exist ready-formed, but 

 occasionally they are formed by a kind of fermentation, as oil of bitter 

 almonds, and oil of mustard. Some of them consist of carbon and 

 hydrogen only, as oil of turpentine, procured from various specites of 

 Pinus and Abies ; oil of juniper, from Juniperus communis ; oil of 

 savin, from Juniperus Sabina ; oil of lemon and orange, from the rind 



