AND FATS OF INDIA. 5 



per lb. It is chiefly employed as a mild purgative. Soap may be made of 

 it, but the odour is disagreeable. 



About 12,000 gallons of castor oil for medicinal purposes are exported 

 annually from Madras alone. The whole imports into Great Britain from 

 British India were, in 



1854 8,672 cwt. 1857 39,296 cwt. 



1855 11,910 „ 1858 20,592 „ 



1856 29,411 „ 1859 20,702 „ 

 Castor oil extracted hot differs from the preceding only in the method 



of preparation. The seeds are boiled for two hours in water, dried for 

 three days in the sun, freed from the shells, pounded, and then boiled in 

 fresh water until the whole of the oil has risen to the surface : 3£ lb. of 

 seed shoidd by this process yield 1 quart of oil. This is the kind generally 

 employed in medicine by the native practitioners ; it is straw-coloured, and 

 free from unpleasant taste or smell. 



Jungle Lamp Oil ; Vullak ennai, Tamil. ; Ped-amidum, Tel. ; 

 Chiragh-ka-tel, Hind. — This is the oil pressed from the larger variety 

 of castor-oil seed, and is sometimes drawn cold, when a pale straw-coloured 

 oil is obtained, resembling that from the small-seeded kind. It is generally 

 extracted by heat, and forms the common " lamp oil " of the bazaars. 



The seeds having been partially roasted over a charcoal fire, both to 

 coagulate the albumen and to liquefy the oil, are then pounded, and boiled 

 in water until the oil rises to the surface. The roasting process gives a 

 deeper red colour, and an empyreumatic odour. The average export of 

 the six years ending 1855 was about 28,000 gallons annually from the 

 Madras Presidency ; the average price, two rupees and six annas per 

 maund. 



Cheeronjee, or Tumbi pullum (Buchanania latifolia, Chirongia 

 sapida). — This oil is rarely extracted from the abundantly oleaginous seeds, 

 which are eaten by the natives to make them fat. The oil is clear, sweet, 

 and straw-coloured. The trees grow plentifully in Mysore and Cuddapah. 



Chemmarum ; Khana, Hind. ; Tikhta-raj, Beng. (Amoora rohituka). — 

 From the seeds, where the trees are plentiful, the natives extract an oil 

 which is useful for many economic purposes. It is found in Travancore 

 and Bengal. 



Cinnamon Suet (Cinnamomum zeylanicum). — This fat is procured in 

 Ceylon by boiling the fruit. An oily fluid floats on the surface, which, 

 on cooling, subsides to the bottom of the vessel, and hardens into a 

 substance like suet. The Cinghalese make it into candles, and also employ 

 it for culinary purposes. It contains about 8 per cent, of a fluid 

 resembling olive oil, the residue being of the nature of wax. 



Circassian Bean (Adenanthera pavonina). — These hard red seeds are 

 best known here by their employment for ornamental purposes ; but, from 

 the Madras Jury Report, it would appear that an oil has been obtained from 

 them. We do not anticipate that it will be viewed in any other light than 

 as a curiosity. 



