Am  Oc°tUri  Ysarm"  )  Oiticica  Oil.  729 
mass  set  (polymerized).  The  mass  so  formed  was  a  stiff,  clear, 
transparent  jelly,  which  swelled  up  indefinitely  when  mixed  with  an 
oil  such  as  linseed  or  a  solvent  such  as  chloroform,  and,  although  no 
solution  apparently  took  place,  the  whole  mass  became  gelatinous. 
It  should  be  noted  that  the  jelly  formed  by  this  oil  is,  as  stated  above, 
clear  and  transparent,  while  that  formed  by  tung  oil  under  similar 
conditions  is  of  a  distinctly  turbid  nature.  The  quantity  of  oil  at 
our  disposal  did  not  allow  of  any  examination  of  the  gas  evolved 
on  polymerization. 
2.  Oxidation  Tests. — A  portion  of  the  oil  heated  in  a  thin  film 
at  ioo°  C.  for  three  hours  gained  in  weight  4  per  cent.  Further 
heating  up  to  twenty- four  hours  only  showed  a  total  gain  of  4.5 
per  cent.  The  skin  produced  in  this  way  is  practically  insoluble  in 
petroleum  spirit,  chloroform  or  acetone.  (Tung  oil,  when  treated 
in  the  same  manner,  only  increased  by  2  to  3  per  cent,  in  weight.) 
As  the  oil  dries  the  surface  becomes  much  wrinkled,  and  there  is 
evidently  considerable  increase  in  volume,  as  is  usually  the  case  when 
such  solidification  takes  place. 
A  solution  of  the  oil  in  commercial  benzene,  when  allowed  to  dry 
in  a  thin  film  on  glass,  produced  a  uniform  skin,  more  transparent 
and  continuous  in  character  than  is  the  case  with  tung  oil. 
3.  Metallic  Driers. — One  or  two  experiments  were  tried  in  this 
connection,  but  were  not  carried  out  in  an  exhaustive  manner.  On 
the  addition  of  lead  acetate  to  an  alcoholic  solution  of  the  sodium 
soaps,  a  lead  compound  is  formed,  as  in  the  case  of  tung  oil,  but  the 
substance  so  produced  is  of  a  more  granular  character  than  in  the 
case  of  that  oil.  These  lead  compounds  are  soluble  in  hot  linseed 
oil  when  mixed  with  it  in  small  quantities. 
The  above  experiments  all  tended  to  show  that  this  oil  has  very 
remarkable  properties,  which  place  it  in  a  distinctly  unique  position, 
and  there  seems  every  reason  to  suppose  that  the  oil  is  worthy  of 
the  attention  of  the  varnish-maker,  and  possibly  also  of  those  inter- 
ested in  the  manufacture  of  linoleum,  but  for  these  purposes  it  will 
be  necessary  to  obtain  the  oil  on  a  commercial  scale.  Though,  as 
has  been  pointed  out  above,  special  precautions  were  taken  to  obtain 
the  oil  in  an  unaltered  condition,  this  was  rather  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining  correct  analytical  figures,  and  it  is  quite  possible  that  the 
oil  could  be  expressed  in  the  ordinary  way  without  serious  deteriora- 
tion, particularly  if  it  were  solidified  as  rapidly  as  possible  after 
leaving  the  presses.    Even  in  the  liquid  condition  there  is  no  doubt 
