GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  FRENCH  JOURNALS. 
397 
GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  FRENCH  JOURNALS. 
By  the  Editor. 
On  the  Oil  of  the  Aleurites  triloba — a  substitute  for  Castor 
Oil. — C.  Favrot  has  called  attention  to  this  oil,  which  M.  Ororke 
has  proposed  as  a  substitute  for  castor  oil,  it  being  more  limpid. 
The  oil  is  extracted  from  the  seed  to  the  extent  of  60  per  cent, 
of  their  weight ;  it  is  more  fluid  than  castor  oil ;  it  is  completely 
inodorous  and  insipid  ;  its  color  is  that  of  amber ;  it  congeals  at 
4  degrees  above  zero  (of  centigrade)  ;  it  is  insoluble  in  alcohol ; 
it  is  saponified  very  easily  by  alkalies  ;  and  can  be  employed 
successfully  as  a  drying  oil. 
M.  Ororke  has  made  numerous  experiments  to  ascertain  its 
efficacy,  and  he  has  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  its  purgative 
power  is  analogous  to  that  of  castor  oil,  but  without  its  tendency 
to  cause  vomiting.  M.  Favrot  thinks  that  the  acrimony  of  cas- 
tor oil,  which  causes  its  nauseating  action,  is  due  to  a  principle 
which  will  not  be  contained  in  it  if  it  is  prepared  wholly  in  the 
cold.  He  thinks,  with  Mr.  Bower  of  Philadelphia,*  that  this 
principle  does  not  pre-exist  in  the  seed,  but  is  the  result  of  a 
reaction,  because,  though  the  views  of  Mr.  Bower  have  not  been 
as  yet  directly  corroborated,  yet  the  fact  that  the  Chinese  use 
castor  oil  in  culinary  operations  after  it  has  been  boiled  in  alum- 
water  favors  his  idea.  Water,  when  acidulated  with  sulphuric 
acid,  produces  the  same  result,  because  it  is  equally  gifted  with 
the  power  of  destroying  the  purgative  principle  of  the  castor  oil 
and  the  emetico-cathartic  principle  of  the  seed  pulp. 
The  Aleurites  triloba  belongs  to  the  same  natural  family  with 
the  Ricinus,  being  euphorbiaceous,  but  M.  Favrot  thinks  it  is 
not  destined  to  supersede  the  former,  notwithstanding  its  less 
objectionable  taste  and  odor. — Joum.  de  Chim.  3Ied.y  Juillet, 
1858. 
On  Sorghum  Saceharatum  as  a  dye-yielding  plant.  By  M. 
Hetet — The  attention  of  our  readers  has  already  been  drawn  to 
the  merits  of  the  sorghum  as  a  source  of  sugar.  In  a  paper 
published  originally  in  the  Revue  Coloniale,  this  plant  has  been 
Amer.  Journ,  Pharm.,  vol.  xxxvi.  page  206. 
