THE JAPAN WAX TREE. 



421 



in order to diffuse the heat equally throughout the whole mass. 

 When the substance is sufficiently heated, it is placed in canvas bags 

 and submitted to pressure. The oil escapes with much more facility, 

 the heat having coagulated the albumen; it is clear and can be 

 immediately filtered. The oil may also be prepared by previously 

 roasting the nuts in ovens. When they are broken, the kernel then 

 separates very easily from the shell, which is not the case with the 

 raw nuts. In the latter case the fragments of kernel are separated 

 with the point of a knife, which causes a great loss of time. The oil 

 which is obtained after this roasting is of a much darker colour than 

 that which is extracted by the preceding process. In all cases, the 

 kernel must be completely separated from its outer shell, for in 

 crushing the whole together, an enormous loss is experienced. The 

 following are the returns which were obtained, and with a stronger 

 pressure a larger quantity of oil would result: 224 lbs. of whole 

 nuts give 4 lbs. of kernels ; 224 lbs. of kernels produce 50 quarts of 

 oil. 



At the Sandwich Islands, where it is prepared in large quantities, 

 this oil is 40 per cent, cheaper than linseed oil. In commerce in the 

 Pacific it is designated under the name of Kuhui oil. The oil of this 

 nut has many useful applications. In the arts, it may be employed 

 in painting as a drying oil ; after having been boiled, it dries com- 

 pletely at the end of six hours. In the manufacture of soap it would 

 replace at Tahiti with great advantage the cocoanut oil which is used. 

 It is excellent for lighting purposes, and burns without the unpleasant 

 odour which cocoanut oil gives out; it has not, like the latter, the 

 disadvantage of deteriorating the lamps ; lastly, it gives a very bril- 

 liant light. It may be reckoned among the drastic purgatives. Very 

 good effects are obtained with a dose of 15 to 20 grammes in an aro- 

 matic potion. It is said to be used in Java at table, which must 

 depend on a special mode of preparation, that is to say, the fresh 

 kernel has alone been submitted to pressure. It will thus be seen 

 this oil merits being prepared in Oceania and in New Caledonia. 

 Indigenous to those islands, it grows everywhere ; on the tops of the 

 mountains, where it appears to be most common, on the sloping and 

 inaccessible parts, in deep ravines, in fresh and fertile valleys. It 

 is very abundant up to a height of 2700 feet ; above that, it becomes 

 rare, and disappears completely at 4000 feet. 



The J APAN Wax Teee. — In J apan a considerable quantity of solid 

 vegetable wax, which melts at 128° and congeals at 132°, is obtained 

 from the seeds or berries of several species of Mlius ; that w^hich is 

 most generally cultivated is the Rhus succedanea. This is grown 

 amongst vegetables more or less extensively almost everywhere in 

 Japan, especially in the western provinces from the south northwards 

 to the 35th degree. 



The lacquer tree [B. vernicifera) also yields the wax, and differs but 

 little in appearance from the other species, except that its geographical 

 limit extends farther northwards, being at 38°. The Bhus sylvestris, a 

 wild species, is also utilized for the purpose. The cultivated species 

 was originally imported from the Loo Choo islands ; the growers now 



