OIL BEANS, SEEDS AND NUTS 457 
nut inside. It has not yet been exported or valued. The Benin and 
other natives are very fond of eating it. 
Then there is the nut of Ivialegbi (Benin), which is edible and has 
a pleasant taste. It is rather smaller than the Gaboon nut, and its 
surface is slightly striated from the sharp point of the nut to the 
base. 
In this family is found, too, Coula edulis, or the Gaboon nut. 
This is chiefly found in the Cameroons, but owing to similarity in the 
vegetation it is very probably growing in the Oban forest of the Anom 
range. The shell of the nut is very rough, and the outside is smoother 
than the inside. The shell can be cracked comparatively easily with 
a somewhat powerful blow with a hammer or axe-handle. 
From the Anonacez : 
Monodora tenuifolia, African Nutmeg. 
M. myristica, var. grandis, Calabar Nutmeg. 
M. brevipes, Yellow-flowering Nutmeg. 
None of these nutmegs have yet been placed on the European market. 
Although they are all much smaller in size than the nutmeg of 
commerce, a proper examination would reveal any value they might 
possess. 
Although the Myristicacee, Pycnanthus Kombo, yield fat-bearing 
nuts, they have not been exported to the English market. The nut 
is the size of a small oval plum. The outer husk is hard and thick, 
but is comparatively easily broken. The inner nut is covered 
with a red aril spread out over it, similar to the mace over the 
common nutmeg (Myristica fragrans). The kernel is white inside, 
with dark rays penetrating it from the outside. The tree is very 
prevalent, and yields a large number of nuts. According to the 
investigation of the Imperial Institute? “the yield of solid fat was 
54 per cent. It has an orange colour and a bitter taste.” The fat 
was stated to be suitable for soap and candle making and the meal 
as a manure. In Sierra Leone the nuts were known as Kpoye, and 
are identical with those known as “ Kafu.” According to the 
chemical analysis made at the Imperial Institute the following results 
were obtained : 
Specific gravity at 100/15° C. - 0-886 
Melting-point oe oss -- 48°5°C. 
Saponification value. . us .. 235 to 245 
Acid value... a i .. 21°0 
Hehner value. . oa or -. 90°8 
Todine value .. ee we .. 48°9 
Titer test os me ae .. 45°8°C. 
1 Colonial Report, 88, Oil Seeds, Fats and Waxes, Imperial Institute, 1914. 
