566 
Cotton  Seed  Oil. 
j  Am.  Jour.  Pharm^ 
t      Nov.,  1885. 
the  seeds  of  various  species  of  Gossypium,  and  subsequently  purified. 
The  oil  extracted  and  purified  in  this  country  is  not  derived  to  any 
extent  (if  at  all)  from  seeds  obtained  from  America,  but  from  seeds 
obtained  from,  other  channels,  and  which  are  known  in  this  country 
simply  as  Egyptian  or  African,  according  to  the  port,  I  presume,  from 
which  they  are  imported.  I  have  here  present  samples  of  the  three 
different  kinds  of  seeds,  or  rather,  I  should  say,  of  seeds  obtained  from 
the  three  different  sources,  namely,  American,  Egyptian  and  African,, 
but  I  have  little  expectation  that  the  species  of  Gossypium  from  which 
they  are  derived  will  be  determined  from  them,  as  they  exhibit  no 
very  special  or  distinctive  characteristic.  The  fact,  however,  that  the 
oil  is  not  only  from  seeds  derived  from  a  variety  of  species,  but  also 
from  sources  geographically  so  different,  will  probably  be  sufficient  tO' 
account  for  any  little  variation  afterwards  noticed  in  the  physical  or 
chemical  properties  of  the  samples  which  I  have  examined.  The  seeds 
yield  from  12  to  20  per  cent,  of  oil,  and  as  first  extracted  it  is  a  very 
dark  and  dirty-looking  mixture,  as  shown  in  the  sample  on  the  table. 
This  crude  oil  has  a  specific  gravity  from  '928  to  '930.  After  purifying,, 
it  takes  from  a  bright  pale  yellow  to  a  deeper  golden  color,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia  should  be  "  odorless  with  a. 
neutral  reaction,  specific  gravity  '920  to  '930,  congealing  at  a  tempera- 
ture near  to  3'VG°F.,^'  etc.  I  have  on  the  table  a  sample  of  pure 
American  oil,  and  also  one  home  extracted  and  purified  from  Egyptian 
seed.  It  will  be  seen  that  while  the  two  oils  closely  resemble  each 
otlier  in  smell  and  taste,  they  differ  somewhat  in  color,  the  home 
prepared  being  of  a  deeper  yellow.  Every  sample  which  I  have 
examined,  whether  home  or  foreign,  exhibits  very  much  the  same  char- 
acteristics as  regards  smell  and  taste,  the  smell  being  not  altogether 
odorless,  but  like  olive  oil  when  fresh  and  sweet,  devoid  of  anything 
distinctive  or  offensive,  while  tlie  taste  is  peculiarly  bland  and  with  a 
nut-like  sweetness. 
The  first  point  I  w^ould  particularly  notice  is  the  density  of  the  oil.. 
The  United  States  Pharmacopoeia,  as  well  as  several  text-books,  all 
give  the  specific  gravity  of  cotton  seed  oil  as  '920  to  '930.  This  is 
correct  enough  if  intended  to  embrace  both  purified  and  crude  oils,, 
but  '930  is  much  too  high  applied  to  the  refined  oil  alone,  and  is  mis- 
leading if  density  is  to  be  relied  upon  as  a  test  of  adulteration  witb 
the  lighter  and  more  valuable  oils,  such  as  olive  or  almond.  Out  of 
many  samples  examined  I  have  never  found  the  specific  gravity  to  go 
