14 
Beechnut  Oil. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharro. 
\    January,  1896. 
works  of  different  writers  in  this  respect  produces  confusion  in  the 
minds  of  persons  reviewing  the  subject.  The  variation  in  practice 
is,  no  doubt,  due  to  the  ripeness  of  the  seeds  and  the  degree  of 
pressure  employed. 
The  oil  is  one  of  the  best-keeping  fatty  oils  known,  remaining 
free  from  rancidity  for  twenty  years  or  longer.8 
In  the  reign  of  George  I,  of  England,  a  petition  was  presented, 
praying  letters- patent  for  making  butter  from  beech  nuts.  A  beech 
oil  company  was  one  of  the  noted  speculations  of  Queen  Anne's 
reign,9  and  large  corporations  are  now  in  existence  in  continental 
Europe,  whose  object  is  the  production  of  the  oil. 
One  very  old  reference  to  beech  nuts  is  as  follows  :  "  The  mast 
or  seeds  yield  a  good  oil  for  lamps,  and  are  a  very  agreeable  food  to 
squirrels,  mice  and  swine.  The  nuts,  when  eaten  by  human  persons, 
occasion  giddiness  and  headache,  but  when  dried  and  powdered 
make  a  wholesome  bread.  They  are  sometimes  roasted  and  substi- 
tuted for  coffee.  The  poor  people  in  Silesia  use  the  expressed  oil 
instead  of  butter."10 
The  oil  is  obtained  by  expression,  either  hot  or  cold ;  after  the 
nuts  have  been  freed  from  dirt  and  leaves  they  are  ground  with  a 
certain  'proportion  of  water  to  form  a  paste,  which  is  placed  in  a 
canvas  bag  and  submitted  to  pressure  for  several  hours ;  the  paste 
is  then  removed  from  the  press  and  again  ground  up  with  a  smaller 
proportion  of  water  than  before,  and,  after  warming  slightly,  it  is 
submitted  to  pressure  a  second  time.  The  cold  pressed  oil,  some- 
times called  "  virgin  "  oil,  is  somewhat  thin,  bright  yellow,  odorless, 
and  of  a  mild  taste.  The  specific  gravity  varies  from  0  920  to  0*930, 
according  to  different  authorities,  although  the  figure  most  fre- 
quently quoted  is  0  9225,  the  earliest  mention  of  which  was  found  in 
1838.11 
At  one  time  beech  nuts  were  supposed  to  contain  a  narcotic  prin- 
ciple, and  the  press  cake  was  reputed  to  have  a  deleterious  effect 
upon  horses  or  cattle,  but  was  used  for  feeding  hogs  and  poultry  ;12 
this  principle  was  made  the  subject  of  several  investigations  and 
8 1889,  Bornemann,  Die  Fetten  Oele. 
9  1876,  Waste  Products  and  Undeveloped  Substances.    P.  h.  Simmonds. 
10  1796,  Enclycopsedia  Britannica. 
11 1838,  Berzelius,  Lehrbuch  der  Chemie,  Vol.  VI,  p.  501. 
12 1894,  National  Dispensatory. 
