N. 0. PALMES. 1323 



and the preparation of soap liniment " (Dymock). The Phar- 

 macopoeia, on the other hand, says this oil is inferior to 

 ground-nut oil and sesamum oil as a vehicle for liniments. 

 Sakharam Arjun remarks : " The fresh oil is prepared for 

 medicinal purposes by boiling the milk of the ripe cocoanut. 

 It is used as an application for burns and in baldness." Ainslie 

 observes it is obtained by boiling the bruised kernels in water, 

 or " on other occasions it is obtained by expression." Drury 

 says : " The oil used internally for medicinal purposes is not 

 the common commercial oil in its crude state, but the oleine 

 obtained by pressure refined by being treated with alkalies, 

 and then repeatedly washed and distilled with water." The 

 therapeutic properties of the oil are discussed in the United 

 States Dispensatory. " In Germany it has been used in phar- 

 macy, to a considerable extent, as a substitute for lard, to which, 

 according to Pettenkofer, it is preferable on account of its less 

 tendency to rancidity, its more ready absorption when rubbed on 

 the surface of the body, and its less liability to produce chemical 

 changes in the substance with which it is associated. Thus the 

 ointment of iodine of potassium, when made with lard, becomes 

 yellow in a few days, while if made with cocoanut oil it remains 

 unchanged for two months or more, Vegetable substances also 

 keep better in ointment prepared with this oil than with lard. 

 Besides, it takes up one-third more water, which is a useful 

 quality when it is desirable to apply saline solutions externally." 

 " A preparation has been shown to us, said to be the liquid part 

 of cocoanut oil, prepared in London, and, under the name of 

 eoeo-olein, used, instead of the oil itself, as a substitute for cod- 

 liver oil. The dose of this, as well as of the oil, is half a fluid 

 ounce three times a day." 



The various processes adopted in India for preparing oil 

 from the cocoanut result in the formation of substances that 

 are reputed to possess widely different properties. This fact 

 might almost be supposed to be in consequence of chemically 

 different oils being isolated. Dr. Dymock says of the so-called 

 muihel oil : " In the Konkan the oil which separates from the 

 freshly-rasped kernel, alone or mixed with tamarind-seed oil, 



