June 1907.] 



353 



Oils and Fats. 



from the fire and spread out in a bowl to cool, ground again and beaten by hand 

 with a little water, till the oil comes out in small pellets ; when this is seen a large 

 quantity of water is added and the oil floats on the top. It is skimmed off and 

 boiled. Of coarse, however, the oil would be better obtained by machinery and as 

 there are already oil-mills in Singapore, should the plant be cultivated in sufficient 

 quantity, it would pay best to send the oil-seeds direct to the factory. 



A machine has been invented in Germany which hurls the seeds against a 

 plate with such force as to break them and set free the kernel, and this machine 

 is found to be a very satisfactory working one. The kernel oil is more highly 

 valued than that of the husk and is always in demand. There seems no doubt 

 that this plant may well be worth planting for the sake of its seeds and oil pulp 

 in the Malay Peninsula, as it requires really hardly any attention except in actual 

 planting and gathering the seed. — Agricultural Bulletin of the Straits and 

 Federated Malay States, February, 1907. 



[The oil-palm grows well in Ceylon, and was experimented with about 

 1880-86, especially in the Matale district where a good many trees can still be seen. 

 It was not found able to compete with coconut-oil and was gradually given up 

 again— Ed. "T. A,"] 



OIL FROM THE SEED OF THE CEARA RUBBER-TREE. 



In a previous number of the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute (1903, 1. 156) 

 an account was given of the properties of the fixed oils from the seeds of the Para 

 rubber-tree (Hevea brasiliensis) which had been examined in the Scientific and 

 Technical Department. It is interesting to note that a somewhat similar oil is 

 yielded by the seeds of the Ceara rubber-tree (Manihot Glaziovii), and has bee a 

 examined recently by Fendler and Kuhn (Ber. deut. Pharm. Ges., 1906, 15. 426). 



This oil is described as of a greenish-yellow colour, with an odour resembling 

 that of olive oil, and a somewhat harsh and bitter taste. The constants of the oil 

 are given below, and for the sake of comparison the corresponding constants of 

 Para rubber seed oil are also quoted : — 



Ceara rubber Para rubber 

 seed oil. seed oil. 



Specific gravity ... ... ... 0-9258 0*9302 



Acid value ... ... ... ... 2-18 107 



Saponification value ... ... ... 188*6 206*1 



Reichert-Meisel value ... ... ... 0*7 — 



Iodine value... ... ... ... 137*0 per cent. 128*3 per cent. 



Unsaponifiable matter ... ... 0*9 ,, ,, — 



The mixed fatty acids of Ceara rubber seed oil consist of 10*97 per cent. 

 " solid acids " (melting-point, 54° C.) and 89*03 per cent. " liquid acids." 



The oil " dries " in about ten hours when kept at 55 C. in the air, but only 

 after several weeks if exposed to the air at the ordinary temperature.— Bulletin of 

 the Imperial Institute, Vol. IV., No. 4, 1906. 



fit might be worth the while of those who have many trees to experiment 

 with this oil.-ED. ■« T. A."] 



