46 
When heated, the oil began to melt at 19° C. and was a clear 
liquid at 28° C. It had very marked drying properties and yielded 
a solid, transparent fil 111. On saponification with caustic soda, the 
oil furnished a rather soft soap of a yellowish colour. 
In the following table, the constants and properties of the oil ex- 
tracted from this sample of meal are contrasted with those of the 
oil obtained from the freshly crushed decorticated seeds ; the con- 
stants of linseed oil are again added for comparison. 
Oil extracted from Oil extracted from 
Para Rubber seed decorticated Para 
Yield of Oil per 
meal. 
Rubber seeds 
( freshly crushed . ) 
Linseed Oil. 
cent. 
36 1 
42.3 
33-37 , 
Physical state 
Specific gravity 
Solid below 
19 0 C Liquid 
Liquid 
1 5°/ 1 5° . o-9 <■ 
Free fatty acids 
per cent, (cal- 
culated as oleic 
0.9302 
0.931-0.937 
acid) 
65.6 
5-4 
04-5*7 
Iodine value 
136.2 
128.3 
1 60-1 8 1 
It will be observed that the oil extracted from the meal was solid 
whereas that obtained from the freshly ground seed was a liquid. 
This difference is due to the large proportion (65.6 per cent.) of 
free fatty acids present in the former, whilst the latter contained 
only 5.4 per cent, of free acids, The cause of this difference in the 
two oils has been investigated and it has been found that after the 
seed has been crushed the oil gradually undergoes decomposition, 
owing to the action of a Hydrolytic enzyme contained in the seed 
which will be made the subject of special study. 
Analysis of the Meal . 
The meal furnished the following results on analysis: — 
Moisture 
9.1 percent 
Ash ... 
3*53 i’ 
Fibre ... 
3-4 
Oil ... 
... 36.1 
Proteids 
18.2 
Carbohydrates 
29.67 „ 
The ash was found to contain 30.3 per cent, of phosphoric acid 
(calculated as P. 2 O. 5) present in the form of phosphates, which 
is equivalent to 1.07 per cent, of phosphoric acid in the meal. 
The results of this examination of the Para Rubber seed meal in- 
dicate that the material thus prepared could neither be used as a 
fodder owing to the presence in it of large quantities of free fatty 
acids nor for the expression of Para Rubber seed oil since the latter 
