Oct. 1908.] 



309 



OILS AND FATS. 



SCHLEICHERA OR KUSAM OIL AND FAT. 



The Schleichera trijuga, "Kusam," or " Kusumbha," a deciduous species 

 of the order Sapindaceai, is a moderate-sized tree of the plains of India. It occurs 

 throughout the dry open forests, and is sometimes met with as an avenue tree. 

 "With its thickset stem, often buttressed at the base or fluted from below the 

 lowermost branches, and its rounded dark-green crown of leaves it is conspic- 

 uous in the midst of its many associates. On account of its tough, heavy 

 and close-grained timber the species has been classed with the hard woods of 

 India, the same technical properties of the product evidently also earning for the 

 species its well-known popular name of " Ceylon Oak." So hard, indeed, is the 

 heartwood of the kusam, that it is preferred by the natives above that of many 

 other species for the construction of cart-wheels, plows and harrows, the handles 

 of tools, the teeth of rakes, cogwheels for water lifts, mortars, pestles and other 

 agricultural and domestic implements. It is usually employed in situations in 

 which transverse pressure, shearing strain, torsion and the like have to be borne, 

 and, were we to pronounce from its extreme durability when employed for the 

 various purposes indicated, would appear to be eminently suited to them all. 

 The soft yellow resin which exudes from incisions made in the bark and sapwood 

 of the tree as well as the dye obtained from its flowers are other economic products 

 of the kusam. Again, the lac produced by the insect known as the Coccus lacca, 

 Kerr, when fed on its twigs is esteemed the finest obtainable in India. 



But, perhaps, the most valuable product of the kusam is the gray vegetable 

 fat which is deposited in abundance from its dark brown viscid oil. This oil is 

 obtained from the kernels of the seeds that are annually yielded in large quantities. 

 The kusam is a deciduous tree ; its old leaves are shed almost all together at the 

 approach of the hot weather toward the end of March. But early in April it 

 again puts forth a crowded flush of new leaves which, on their elongation, are 

 seen to be accompanied by the red tasselated flowers. These are borne upon 

 short delicate racemes that spring from the axils of the leaves, or more usually, 

 fasciculate in lax clusters at the terminals of the twigs and branchlets. Toward the 

 close of the hot weather the fruits will have set, and in the middle of the rains 

 ripen and drop. They are globular berries about half an inch in diameter of a 

 yellowish-brown color, and are invested with a thick soft glabrous rind. On 

 removing this rind, the smooth light-brown seed is seen enveloped in a white 

 artistic pulp. 



The latter is pleasantly sub-acid and edible and is eagerly sought after 

 by birds and animals. It is also largely eaten by the villagers who reside within or 

 in the vicinity of the forests in which the kusam grows. On the Malabar Coasts 

 where it is plentiful the comminuted seeds are boiled in water, and the oil which 

 floats on the surface of the liquid skimmed off by means of coconut shell ladles. 

 But in the elimination of oil from the seeds of the kusam, warm expression is 

 neither essential nor necessary, because simple cold expression itself subserves the 

 purposes of its extraction. On crushing the kernels in an ordinary mill, a clear 

 dark-brown oil exudes from them. It has a nutty odor and a peculiar flavor which, 

 however, is not unpleasant, This oil, which turns thick in a few hours after 

 keeping, deposits a dense gray butterine precipitate which remains a soft solid at 

 ordinary temperatures. The precipitate is either stearin or palmitin, and consti- 

 tutes the most valuable part of the product. Though sparingly employed in 



