THE TECHNOLOGIST. [July 1, 1865. 



558 SISAL HEMP. 



rot on the ground. The remaining portion, consisting of a shell, 

 (putameri) somewhat of the consistency of that of a hen's egg, and 

 enclosing the kernel, is baked on hot stones in the same way that Poly- 

 . nesian vegetables and meat are. The shell is then broken, and the 

 kernel pounded between stones. If the quantity be small, the macerated 

 mass is placed on the fibres of the Van (Hibiscus tiliaceus A and tricuspis) 

 and forced by the hand to yield up its oily contents. If large, a rude 

 level press is constructed by placing a boom horizontally between two 

 cocoa-nut trees, and appending to this perpendicularly the fibres of the 

 Van. After the macerated kernels have been placed in the midst, a 

 pole is made fast to the lower end of the fibres, and two men taking 

 hold of its end, twist the contrivance round and round till the oil, 

 collecting into a wooden bowl placed underneath, has been extracted. 

 Of course the pressure thus brought to bear upon the pounded kernels 

 is not sufficiently great to express the whole of the oil, and there is 

 still much waste. 



[The resin and oil of this tree will be found fully described under 

 the name of " Tamaner," which it bears in the Society Islands, in vol. 3 

 of the Technologist, p. 84, in an article by G. Cuzent. — Ed.] 



