Oils and Fats. 



12 



[Jan. 1908. 



their surfaces are frequently chipped clean to remove the congealed resin that 

 clogs the pores of the wood. The yield and value of In oil are about the same 

 locally as those of Kanyin oil. Unlike the latter, it is seldom utilized in the manu- 

 facture of torches, but is chiefly employed, either alone or in combination with 

 the oleo-resin of the Melanorrhoea usitata, Wall, for varnishing, water-proofing, 

 lacquering, in medicine, etc. Besides these known uses of the products Gar j an oil 

 has been suggested for utilization in the manufacture of lithographic and printing 

 ink, as a substitute for the Brazalian balsam of Copaiba 'copaiva), in the painting 

 or varnishing of wood work exposed to damp or insects, and as a solvent of the 

 hydrocarbon, caoutchouc. For the last-mentioned purpose it would appear to be 

 eminently suited because of the large quantities of essential oil it contains — almost 

 every known essential oil being an effective solvent of caoutchouc. 



The wasteful and primitive methods of extracting the Garjan oils in Burma 

 coupled with the annual destruction of hundreds of valuable trees from overtapping 

 or being burnt down in the fires that travel through the forests in the hot weather 

 are matters that deserve the attention of those responsible for the Forest adminis- 

 tration of the provinces of Burma. Systematic tapping under scientific treatment 

 following the due conservation of at last those forests in which the Dipterocarpus 

 terminatus and the D. tuberculatus at present occur spontaneously in Burma is 

 likely to do much in the direction of assuring purity of quality and sustained 

 quantitative yield in two of the most valuable products of the country. Such 

 action cannot fail to revive and enlist commercial and technical interest and 

 sympathy in the elimination and utilization of these products. It might even lead 

 to the discovery of new uses and to the erection of new industries for their 

 adequate and efficient utilization ; for, it is the product that seeks and finds its 

 utilization more frequently than the industry that determines its use.— Indian 

 Agriculturist, Vol. XXXII, No. 10, October 1907, p. 308. 



[Several species of Dipterocarpus occur in Ceylon. D. glandulosus, Thw., 

 which is comparatively rare, yields dorana-tel, used instead of Garjan oil in the 

 Colombo Lepers' Hospital — Ed.] 



Coconut Water. 



(Quelques recherches sur la composition de l'eau et sur les diastases du fruit 

 de Cocos nucifera. de Kruyff in Bull, Jard. Colon. 7, 1907, p. 339). 

 This author finds that 



1. The coconut water contains saccharose, which is inverted during 

 maturation. 



2. This inversion is carried out by the action of the diastase sucrase, which 

 is dissolved in the water. 



3. This diastase is secreted by the cells of the endosperm (flesh of nut). 



4. The water also contains oxydase and catalase. 



5. The water of a very young fruit only contains the two latter. 



6. The haustorium (organ with which the young plant feeds on the nut) 

 contains in its cells lipase, proteolytic diastase, amylase, catalase, and feroxydase). 



These researches were carried out with the object of finding a use for the 

 water in the young coconut, but none was discovered. 



