406 



CASTOR OIL SEED. 



with a spread of foliage 15 feet in diameter. Tlie trunk, 10 inches 

 above the ground, was 18 inches in circumference. 



There are many varieties of this plant, but they are generally 

 believed to be derived from a single species. The most notable are, 

 Ricinus sanguineus, the stem, leaf stalks, young leaves, and fruit of 

 which are of a blood-red colour ; B. Borhoniensis, which in southern 

 climates attains a great height ; and B. giganteus. 



The following varieties may be enumerated, although described by 

 some as species : 



1. Ricinus communis, Lin., the most widely diffused, with glaucous- 



purple stems. 



2. R. inermis, Jacq., a native of India, 



3. R. viridis, Willd., also an Indian species. 



4. R. lividus, Jacq,, Cape of Good Hope. 



5. R. integrifolius, Willd., Mauritius. 



6. R. speciosus, Willd., Java. 



7. R. apelta, Lour. {Rottlera cantoniensis\ China. 



8. R. mappa, Lin. (^Mappa moluccand), Amboyna. 



9. R. tanarius Linn. (^Mappa tanaria), Amboyna. 



10. R. armatus, or communis, Andrw. Malta. 



11. R. dioicus, FoTster (Mappa tanensis), islands of Southern Seas. 



12. R. tunisensis, Desfont, Algeria. 



The castor oil plant has been known from the remotest ages. 

 Caillard found the seeds of it in some Egyptian sarcophagi, supposed 

 to have been at least four thousand years old. Some people imagine 

 it to be the same plant that is called the gourd in Scripture. It 

 was called aporave by the Greeks, and ricinus by the Eomans; in 

 Hebrew, kikajon, and called by Pliny cici or kiki. It is singular 

 that the oil expressed from the seeds of the cici should have been used 

 by the ancients, including the Jews, as One of their pleasantest oils 

 for burning and for several domestic uses, though its medicinal virtues 

 were unknown. The modern Jews of London use this oil by the 

 name of oil of kiki for their Sabbath lamps, it being one of the five 

 kinds of oil their traditions allow them to burn on such occasions. 

 The seeds are oval, somewhat compressed, about 4 or 5 lines long, 

 3 lines broad, and 1^ line thick ; externally they are pale grey, but 

 marbled with yellowish-brown spots and stripes. 



The oil is obtained from the seed by expression, by boiling with 

 water, or by the agency of alcohol. Nearly all that is consumed in 

 England is obtained by expression. When the outer skin is first 

 removed by rollers, previous to crushing and heating them, a clear 

 and fine oil is produced, the outer cuticle being applicable for manu- 

 facturing and other purposes. By this process the thicker portion, or 

 stearine, which is now lost (by being mixed and left with the outer skin 

 or cuticle), is obtained, and the oleaginous or thin portion of the oil is 

 not coloured and deteriorated. The oil thus obtained can be purified 

 by jets of gas, acids, and heat, at about 150° to 160°. 



Official returns state that 24,145 acres imder culture in the State 

 of Kansas in 1875 produced 361,386 bushels of seed. 



In Iowa it is found a profitable crop, the yield being 15 to 

 25 bushels of seed per acre, w^orth to ^3 per bushel. 



In America, the seeds, cleansed from the dust and fragments of the 



