264  1 he  Tallow  Tree  and  its  Uses.  {Aj;i°™;5S"* 
is  held  in  the  hand  and  pushed  upwards  against  the  twigs,  removing 
at  the  same  time  such  as  are  fruitless. 
The  harvesting  accomplished,  the  capsules  are  taken  and  gently 
pounded  in  a  mortar  to  loosen  the  seeds  from  their  shells,  from  which 
they  are  separated  by  sifting.  To  facilitate  the  separation  of  the 
white  sebaceous  matter  enveloping  the  seeds,  they  are  steamed  in  tubs 
having  convex,  open  wicker  bottoms,  and  placed  over  caldrons  of 
boiling  water.  When  thoroughly  heated  they  are  mashed  in  the  mor- 
tar and  then  transferred  to  bamboo  sieves,,  kept  at  a  uniform  temper- 
ature over  hot  ashes. 
As  a  single  operation  does  not  suffice  to  deprive  them  of  all  their 
tallow,  the  steaming  and  sifting  is  therefore  repeated.  The  article 
thus  procured  becomes  a  solid  mass  on  falling  through  the  sieve,  and, 
to  purify  it,  is  melted  and  then  formed  into  cakes  for  the  press. 
These  receive  their  form  from  bamboo  hoops,  a  foot  in  diameter  and 
three  inches  deep,  which  are  laid  on  the  ground  over  a  little  straw. 
On  being  filled  with  the  hot  liquid,  the  ends  of  the  straw  underneath 
are  drawn  up  and  spread  over  the  top,  and,  when  of  sufficient  con- 
sistence, are  placed  with  their  rings  in  the  press.  This  apparatus, 
which  is  of  the  rudest  description,  is  constructed  of  two  large  beams 
placed  horizontally  so  as  to  form  a  trough  capable  of  containing  about 
fifty  of  the  rings,  with  their  sebaceous  cakes.  At  one  end  it  is  closed 
and  at  the  other  adapted  for  receiving  wedges,  which  are  successively 
driven  into  it  by  ponderous  sledge  hammers  wielded  by  athletic  men. 
The  tallow  oozes  in  a  melted  state  into  a  receptacle  where  it  cools. 
It  is  again  melted  and  poured  into  tubs  smeared  with  mud  to  prevent 
adhering.  It  is  now  marketable  in  masses  of  about  eighty  pounds 
each,  hard,  brittle,  white  and  opaque,  tasteless,  and  without  the  odor 
of  animal  tallow.  Under  high  pressure  it  scarcely  stains  bibulous 
paper ;  it  melts  at  104°  Fah.  It  may  be  regarded  as  nearly  pure 
stearine  ;  the  slight  difference  is  doubtless  owing  to  the  admixture  of 
oil  expressed  from  the  seed  in  the  process  just  described.  The  seeds 
yield  about  eight  per  cent,  of  tallow,  which  sells  for  about  five  cents 
per  pound. 
The  process  for  pressing  the  oil,  which  is  carried  on  at  the  same 
time,  remains  to  be  noticed.  It  is  contained  in  the  kernel  of  the  nut ; 
the  sebaceous  matter  which  lies  between  the  shell  and  the  husk  having 
been  removed  in  the  manner  described,  the  kernel  and  the  husk  cov- 
ering it  are  ground  between  two  stones,  which  are  heated  to  prevent 
