240 
The  Fat  of  Moniordica  Seeds. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1920. 
arranged  that  cool  water  from  a  mountain  stream  can  run  over  them 
to  accelerate  crystallization.  After  the  camphor  has  crystallized 
the  vats  are  opened,  and  the  product  is  placed  on  wooden  troughs 
to  allow  whatever  free  oil  there  may  be  to  drain  off.  This  oil  will 
yield  90  per  cent,  of  crude  camphor  in  the  process  of  refining. 
At  the  request  of  the  Assistant  Director  of  the  Royal  Botanic 
Gardens,  Kew,  an  examination  of  the  fat  contained  in  the  seeds  of 
Momordica  cockinckinensis  (Spreng.)  was  undertaken  with  the  view 
to  ascertaining  whether  it  might  prove  of  commercial  value. 
Momordica  cockinchinensis  is  a  cucurbitaceous  plant  indigenous 
to  Bengal,  Tenasserim,  the  Deccan  Peninsula,  Formosa,  and  the 
Philippine  Islands.  The  seeds  are  described  by  Hooker  as  "^/s" 
X  ^/s"  and  V5"  thick,  many,  horizontal,  irregular,  ovate,  compressed, 
black,  corrugated  on  the  margins,  sculptured  on  the  faces."  {Flora 
of  British  India y  2:  618.) 
Very  little  information  has  been  published  concerning  the  fat 
of  these  seeds.  In  the  Pharmacographia  Indica  (2  :  77)  the  state- 
ment is  made  that  the  seeds  yield  to  light  petroleum  ether  43.74 
per  cent,  of  a  slightly  greenish  oil,  which  smeared  on  a  glass  plate 
and  exposed  to  a  temperature  of  100°  G.,  could  be  scraped  off  the 
glass  as  a  white  powder,  which,  when  boiled  with  petroleum  ether, 
yielded  only  a  trace  of  oil. 
A  general  examination  of  the  seed-coats  and  kernels  has  been 
made  by  Greenish  and  Baines,  with  the  following  results: 
The  average  weight  of  each  seed  was  3.13  Gms.,  of  which  the 
seed-coat  weighed  36.7  per  cent.,  and  the  kernels  63.3  per  cent. 
A— Seed-Coats. 
The  powdered  seed-coats  were  extracted  successively  with  different  solvents, 
the  solvent  evaporated,  and  the  residue  dried  at  100°  C. 
THE  FAT  OF  MOMORDICA  SEEDS.* 
By  C.  B.  C0RFIE1.D,  F.I.C.,  AND  E.  Caird,  B.Sc,  A.I.C. 
Per  cent,  of 
Seed-Coat. 
Per  cent, 
of  Seed. 
1 .  Petroleum  Spirit  Extract   0.33 
2 .  Ether  Extract   0.16 
3.  Chloroform  Extract   0  -44 
4.  Alcohol  Extract   1.62 
No  alkaloid  was  found  in  any  of  the  residues. 
0.06 
0.16 
0.59 
o . 
2 
*  From  The  Pharm.  Jour,  and  Pharmacist,  January  17,  1920. 
