280 



POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



the scented Verbena \Aloysia citriodora), and is used to imi- 

 tate the perfume of that favourite plant ; both it and the Ce- 

 tronelle Oil (/ Anclrojjogon citratzm) are made at Baddegama, 

 near Galle^ in Ceylon ; the former is always labelled Essential 

 Oil of Molucca Lemon-Grass^ and the latter Oil of Cetronelle, 

 The lemon-grass oil by exposure absorbs oxygen much more 

 readily than that of Cetronelle, and consequently soon be- 

 comes resinous. A specimen which has been in the author's 

 collection about twelve months^ contains small floating 

 spiculse of stearojotene. There are two or three other essen- 

 tial oils from the grasses of this genus ; and probably the 

 precious oil of spikenard mentioned in the Scriptures was 

 derived from one of them^ most likely from A, Iwarancusa. 



Many other oils occasionally find their way to this coun- 

 try, but they do not constitute regular articles of commerce, 

 or they are exclusively medicinal, and will be mentioned in 

 the chapter on Materia Medica. "We now proceed to the 

 Vegetable Tallows and Waxes of various kinds. 



Vegetable Tallow (Indian, from Singapore), obtained 

 from the fruit of some plants of the Natural Order JDipte- 

 raceae. This peculiar vegetable fat has been frequently im- 

 ported lately in small quantities experimentally ; it is totally 

 distinct from the Piney Tallow of the East Indies, which is 



