TEEL SEED. 



267 



finding them sweet to the taste^ ate them^ until they pro- 

 duced a distressing illness ; numbers of poor children also 

 suffered from finding them upon the quays^ and many were 

 taken to the hospitals in consequence. The nuts are only 

 imported occasionally. 



Linseed. — The seed of Linum usitatissimum (Nat. Ord. 

 Linacece.) — This plant was described under the name of 

 Flax. Linseed oil is not often imported^ but the seed, 

 which is small, flat, oval, and of a shining bright brown 

 colour, is imported in very large quantities; in 1851 the 

 imports were 608,986 quarters, the greater part of which 

 was from the East Indies and Eussia ; smaller quantities 

 were received from Prussia, Germany, I^gyp^> America. 



Teel Seed, Til Seed, Gingely or Gingillie Seed, 

 Sesamum Seed, and Bennie Seed. — Under these various 

 names we receive the seed of Sesamum orientale (Nat. Ord. 

 Pedaliacece), Its oil, owing to the readiness with which 

 it becomes rancid, is seldom or never imported, but large 

 quantities of the seed are brought from the East Indies, 

 Egypt, Africa, and occasionally from Brazil. The plant 

 thrives everywhere in the tropics, and is largely cultivated 

 all through India, where its oil is much esteemed; it is 

 clear, limpid, and when fresh, as sweet as almond oil. The 



