Jan. 1908.] 



11 



Oils and Fats, 



groups, and consequently furnish the bulk of the products referred to the groups to 

 which they belong, The term " oils " as applied to these remarkable products is not 

 only a misnomer but distinctly a misleader ; for, so far from being merely oils, these 

 products are organic compounds consisting of mixtures of both fixed and volatile 

 oils and balsamic resins resembling copaiba. The groups themselves differ much in 

 physical as well as chemical constitution,— the Kanyins being more nearly oils 

 than resius while the Ins are more nearly resins than oils. Again, the method of the 

 extraction of the product, in each case, furnishes a difference between them of 

 some practical importance and goes far towards helping us to gain some insight into 

 their varying compositions, — the oils of the kanyins are extracted with the aid of 

 fire, the resins of the Ins. without such aid. For the rest, the former are thin, 

 brown to greenish black products ; the latter are thick grey-to-greyish-white 

 exudations. Although they are frequently promiscuously distributed and some- 

 times even occur beside each other, the species yielding the Kanyin oils evince a 

 marked preference for the moist seclusion of the dense, damp, evergreen forests of 

 the hills and valleys of the interior of Burma ; whereas, those furnishing the In 

 oils show a no less conspicuous predilection for the outer, open, dry forests of the 

 lower foot hills and plains of the country. Indeed, while the former are sparsely 

 and sporadically intermixed with the dominant trees of the cool forest that instal 

 themselves on deep, rich soils and alluvial deposits, the latter are so eminently 

 gregarious as to frequently form pure forests on beds of laterite, gravel, and clay. 

 To the assemblage of varied oleo-resinous products that are obtained from species of 

 varying characteristics such as these the one commercial name of " Garjan Oil " hae 

 been applied. No separate trade names exist for the different products that are 

 really referred to under the name of garjan oil. No endeavours appear to have yet 

 been put forth to separately obtain, examine, or determine the oils and resins of the 

 species met with, nor has any serious or systematic attempt been made to investigate 

 their technical value. At present they are almost universally accepts to be ' oils ' 

 from the great tiger haunted forests of Burma ; while, even the chemical examina- 

 tion of the oil by Messrs. Fluckiger and Aunbury, as reported in their Pharmacogra- 

 phia, itself appears to have been conducted upon the sample of a product of dubious 

 origin obtained by them from the port of Moulmein. 



The method of extraction of the Kanyin oils is simple, crude, and needlessly 

 wasteful. Between the months of November and May, varying with the size of 

 the tree, one or more " deep pyramidal hollows, the apices of which point towards 

 the interior of the stem " are cut near the foot of the tree, and fire applied by means 

 of bamboo torches to the upper surfaces of the cuts. The oil which readily trickles 

 out at the cut ends of the vessels of the wood accumulates at the bases of the 

 hollows and is ladled out thence once or twice a week. Soon after and as often as 

 the oil is collected by the operator, tire is applied to the cuts, the charred surfaces of 

 which are also occasionally chipped with a narrow bladen adze. These operations are 

 said to be necessary to stimulate the flow of oil and to keep the pores of the wood 

 open. A tree six feet in girth, with but a single cut, yields on an average about 

 20 pounds of the oil in the year. This quantity is valued at about Rs. 2 locally. 

 The oil, as such, is however sold only when a good demand exists for it ; usually 

 it is mixed with chips of rotten wood which, on becoming quite saturated, are 

 neatly rolled between the leaves of the screw-pine (Fandanus, spp.) or saluhicuala 

 peltata (Roxb.), and made into torches of which from 10 to 15 lakhs are annually 

 exported from the Tenasserim ports of Mergue, Tavoy, and Moulmein alone. 

 These torches are worth from Rs. 2'8 to Rs. 3'0 per 100 at the port of shipment. 

 The extraction of the In oils proceeds upon similar lines to those adopted with that 

 of the Kanyin oils. The tapping season in their cases, however, begins in August 

 and ends in the February or March following. No fire is applied to the cuts, but 



