THE TECHNOLOGIST. [Aug. 1, 1865. 
36 ITALIAN EXHIBITS AT 
of olive kernels for fattening pigs. The oil obtained from the shin 
expressed cold, is used for dyeing, and for the manufacture of white 
soap ; that expressed by heat for making mottled soaps. Fine olive oil 
is obtained from the same olives as those used for making lamp oil, the 
only difference being in the care with which the fruit is selected and pre- 
pared. The olives are plucked before they are over ripe, and the 
utmost cleanliness is observed in bruising them, as well as in filtering 
the oil through several layers of clean cotton wool ; whereas, the lamp 
oil is made from the perfectly ripe olives which have fallen lrom the 
trees and placed in heaps, from which a certain quantity is taken at any 
time during the winter season in order to be pressed. The consequence 
of such treatment is, that the olives undergo incipient fementation, and 
yield strong oil. The second system of manufacture prevails princi- 
pally in the province of Lecce, the oil being mostly exported from 
Gallipoli fur use in machinery. The more refined quality i.s manu- 
factured in the province of Bari, and shipped from the ports of Bari, 
Monopoli, and Mola, for Leghorn and Genoa, and is then sold to 
foreign purchasers as oil of Lucca or Nice, w 7 ith which it may well com- 
pete in taste and perfection. The olive trees in the province of Bari 
attain thirty feet in height, the trunks being frequently three feet in 
diameter ; the branches spreading and the fruit excellent. A full sized 
tree yields about 2 cvvt. of oil. The whole seaboard from Bari to 
Brindisi, a distance of seventy-five miles, for a breadth of seven miles, 
is a continuation of luxuriant olive yards. The railway from Brindisi 
to Bari is now open, and ere long, this will become the main line of 
communication between Europe and India. 
Baron Enrico Janelli shows samples of best olive oil grown at 
Bragone, Termini Imerese (Palermo). The hills in the neighbourhood 
of Bragone have an eastern and southern aspect, and are situated close 
to the sea-shore. The ground is covered with pebbles and gravel, but 
the subsoil is deep, and in some places marly. The method of preparing 
the oil is simple. At the end of October, when the olives become 
yellowish and tinged with red spots, the peasants proceed on dry days 
to gather the fruit, putting it into baskets lined with linen. They are 
then spread out on a thin stratum on the wooden floor of a well- venti- 
lated apartment, taking out all the over ripe or defective ones. After 
being dried in this manner for three days, they are bruised and then 
put in the press. The liquid is placed in covered vessels for twenty- 
four hours, and before fermentation has set in, it is filtered through 
linen into earthenware pans. In a week's time it is filtered again through 
cotton wool to separate the residual pulp which constitutes the 
colouring matter, and deteriorates the oil. In these operations the 
utmost care is necessary to keep all the vessels and matter with which 
the oil comes in contact extremely clean and dry, as it easily becomes 
rancid, undergoing a chemical change. 
Mannite, from the olive, is shown by Professor De Luca, of the 
