200 
CCLXII.—LAGOS PALM OIL. 
(Eleis guineensis, Jacq.) 
In the Kew Bulletin, 1891, p. 190, an account was given of the 
palm a cage on the West Coast of Africa taken from the report of 
a Com appointed i = 1887 to consider the promotion of economic 
aa eae on the Gold Coast. As showing the importance and value 
e palm oil as an article of commerce, the following note is taken 
from the Journal of the Society of Arts for March last, p. 40 
“The total import of pe oil into England is about 50,000 tons, 
valued at over 1,000, ut it is bercqnei ed that this is an exceed- 
ingly small commerce compare ed to what might be the case were the 
enormous resources fully, or even tolerat ‘utilised. For miles along 
the West Coast of Africa, extending between Cape Bianco and St. Paul 
di Loanda, there are vast forests of ibus, pra oleagi nous fruit of which 
has, for -a rotted unused upon the ground. oil palm forests 
at the b the coast line of Cape Palmas and Elmina are saic 
practically insula oddbiot and so also in the neighbourhood of Fernando 
Fo, immense traets are covered with the trees. 
* Lagos furnishes the purest oil: for there are in commerce regular 
` and irregular oils. When analysed, if the water and impurities exceed 
2 per cent., an allowance is ner for often these oils contain 10 to 15 
per cent. of water and i impuri 
“Palm oil is eaten as baitie " the natives, and used for anointing 
their bodies. Here it is used in the manufacture of soap and candles, 
and in South Wales in the preparation of tin plates. Its non-drying 
qualities render it valuable as a pr eservative of the surface of the heated 
iron sheet from oxidation until the moment of dipping into the bath of 
melted tin, the sheets being rapidly transferred to that from the hot 
oil bath, which consists almost entirely of palm oil. 
“In 1871, as well as in 1880 and 1891, the imports of palm oil into 
the United Kingdom exceeded 1,000,000 hundredweight. From 
10,000 to 15,000 tons of palm oil are shipped direct from Africa to 
the Continent. The price of the oil has ranged from 35s. per cwt., 
in 1883, to 23s, in 1890.” 
Reference is made in the above extraet to the superior — of 
rt o 
addressed to Kew. ‘The palm oil prepared in West Africa is extracted 
from the pericarp of the fruits. There is, however, another oil extracted 
rom the kernels of the nuts. Usually these kernels are obtained by ` 
eracking the nuts by hand and shipping them to Europe, where the oil 
is usually expressed, The following letter refers in the first place to 
a useful machine that has been introduced to West Africa for extracting 
the kernels in an expeditious manner, and in the second place it t asks 
for information respeeting the special preparation of Lagos palm oil. 
Mn. G. A. Moore to Royan GARDENS, Krew. 
42, Tower Buildings, Liverpool, 
Dear Sir, 2nd September 1891. 
My attention has only just been called to an extract from 
Kew Gardens Bulletin which was published in the Liverpool Journal 
of Commerce on the 21st ultimo, relating to the preparation of palm oil. 
If you will read the enclosed prospectus it will give you some 
information about a machine [for extracting the kernels of palm nuts}, 
