518 



OLEAamOUS PLANTS. 



Tetjss oil. — The Chinese use what is called teuss or tea oil, for 

 food and other purposes. I have alluded to it under the head of 

 pulse, at page 312. It is obtained, however, from a species of the 

 ground nut, and is sold in Hong Kong, at 2s. 6d. the gallon, being 

 imported from the main land. B}'^ a local ordinance it is impera- 

 tive on every householder at Victoria, Honi>-Kong, to have a lamp 

 burning over his door at night. When burning, this oil aifords 

 a clear, bright liglit, and is not so offensive to the smell as train 

 and other common lamp oils. 



Tobacco seed oil. — A discovery, which may prove of some 

 commercial importance, appears to have been made by a British 

 resident in Russia, namely, that the seed of the tobacco plant 

 contains about fifteen per cent, of an oil possessing' peculiar 

 drying properties, calculated to render it a superior medium, 

 especially for paints and varnishes. The process employed for the 

 extraction of the oil is to reduce the seed to powder, and knead 

 it into a stiff paste with quantum sufficit of hot water, and then 

 submit it to the action of strong fires. The oil thus obtained is 

 exposed to a moderate heat, which, by coagulating the vegetable 

 albumen of the seed, causes all impurities contained in the oil to 

 form a cake at the bottom of the vessel employed, leaving the oil 

 perfectly limpid and clear. 



Poppy oil. — About 80cwt. of poppy seed is imported annually 

 into Hull, and small quantities come into other ports to be 

 crushed into oil. The seeds of the poppy yield, by expression, 

 66 per cent, of a bland and very valuable oil, of a pale golden 

 color, fluid to within ten degrees of the freezing point of water. 

 It dries easily, is inodorous, and of an agreeable flavor like olive oil. 



Dr. J. V. C. Smith, writing from Switzerland, to the editor of 

 the " Boston Medical Journal," says: — 



" Immense crops are raised here of articles wholly unknown to the American 

 farmers, and perhaps the kinds best fitted to particular localities where grain 

 and potatoes yield poorly under the best efforts. One of these is poppies. 

 Thousands of acres are at this moment ready for market — which the traveller 

 takes for granted, as he hurries by, are to be manufactured into opium. They 

 are not, however, intended for medical use at all, but for a widely difi'erent 

 purpose. From the poppy seed a beautiful transparent oil is made, which is 

 extensively used in house painting. It is almost as colorless as water, and possesses 

 so many advantages over the flax seed oil that it may ultimately supersede 

 that article. Where flax cannot be grown popjdes often can be, in pcor sandy 

 soil. Linseed oil is becoming dearer, and the demand for paint is increasing. 

 "With white lead, poppy oil leaves a beautiful surface, which does not after- 

 wards change, by the action of light, into a dirty yellow. Another season some 

 one should make a beginning at home in this important branch of industry. 

 The oil may be used for other purposes, and even put in the cruet for salads." 



Tallicooistah or Kundah oil, is obtained from the seeds of the 

 Carapa Touloucouna (of the Elore de Senegambie). The tree 

 grows to the height of 40 feet; the fruit is a large, somewhat 

 globular five-celled capsule. The seeds (of which there are from 

 18 to 30 in each capsule), vary in size from that of a chesnut to 

 a heji's egg. They are three-cornered, of a brow^nish or blackish 



