Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  19 17. 
The  Price  of  Gasoline. 
221 
"  Referring  to  the  sample  of  castor  beans  you  were  kind  enough  to  send 
us,  we  beg  to  report  that  an  analysis  indicates  them  to  contain  about  the  same 
percentage  of  oil  as  the  Bombay  beans." 
The  foot  stalk  or  trunk  of  the  plant  you  will  observe  is  full  of 
pithy  cellulose — membranous  substance,  very  suggestive  for  wood 
paper  pulp — trying  to  determine  uses  for  the  woody  portions  of  the 
plant,  the  writer  incinerated — the  burr  envelope  of  the  seed  and  all 
other  portions  of  plant,  and  by  the  old  process  of  making  lye  by 
lixiviation  and  evaporation,  obtained  a  fair  percentage  of  potash, 
and  have  for  your  inspection  a  presentable  sample  of  nitrate  of  po- 
tassium. The  experience  we  are  passing  through  at  this  time  natu- 
rally leads  one  to  believe  that  we  might  economize,  incinerating  much 
of  the  refuse  of  saw  mills — and  forestry — with  a  view  to  utilizing 
the  alkali. 
In  concluding  this  examination  as  to  the  possibilities,  would 
define : 
1.  Enlarged  castor  oil  industry  in  the  United  States. 
2.  As  a  by-product,  paper  pulp  or  the  conservation  of  alkali  con- 
tents from  burr  to  root. 
As  a  last  word,  all  portilons  of  this  country  may  not  be  available 
on  account  of  climatic  conditions,  but  the  writer  believes  from  his 
experience  that  the  moist,  warm  regions  of  the  southern  part  of 
this  country  should  take  advantage  of  the  possibility.  We  may  not 
be  able  to  raise  the  African  Ricinus  as  a  perennial  tree,  as  is  stated 
by  a  writer,  but  realize  the  practical  possibility  of  having  annual 
crops  of  castor  oil  beans  as  is  done  with  any  of  the  familiar  farm 
products. 
THE  PRICE  OF  GASOLINE. 
The  final  report  of  the  Federal  Trade  Commission  on  the  price 
of  gasoline  in  191 5  has  recently  been  published.  This  investigation 
had  to  do  with  all  phases  of  the  petroleum  industry.  Practically  the 
entire  supply  of  gasoline  is  made  from  crude  oil  or  petroleum.  The 
total  production  of  this  article  in  the  United  States  in  191 5  was  about 
306,000,000  barrels.  The  chief  element  in  the  demand  for  gasoline 
is  the  internal-combustion  engine.  The  summary  of  facts  and  con- 
clusions is  as  follows : 
The  demand  for  gasoline  as  measured  by  consumption  has  in- 
