358  Scientific  and  Technical  Abstracts.  \Am'Mayimrm' 
Chinese  Peanut  Oil. — The  extraction  of  Chinese  peanut  oil 
from  Arachis  hypogoea  is  a  profitable  industry  of  the  province  of 
Kwantung.  The  peanuts  are  first  washed  free  of  soil  and  dried  in 
the  sun.  The  nuts  are  then  passed  through  a  large  mill,  similar  to 
that  used  for  husking  rice,  and  the  mixture  of  whole  nuts,  husks  and 
kernels  are  sieved  over  coarse  rattan  sieves.  The  refuse  is  used  for 
fuel.  The  husked  nuts  are  now  taken  to  the  pressing  shed,  and  are 
pounded  by  a  very  heavy  stone  pestle  in  a  narrow  mortar  by  hand 
and  foot  pressure.  The  peanut  meal  is  transferred  to  a  shallow 
wooden  tub,  which  is  inverted  over  a  cauldron  of  boiling  water  and 
thoroughly  steamed  to  render  the  meal  more  adhesive.  The  steam- 
ing meal  is  removed  in  mould  form  from  the  tub  and  is  then  made 
into  cakes  by  means-  of  rattan  rings,  of  which  ten  or  so  are  used  to 
form  a  cylinder  of  about  12  inches  in  diameter.  A  sufficient  number 
of  rings  being  prepared,  the  pressing  is  the  next  operation.  The  press 
consists  of  a  huge  hollowed-out  tree  trunk  18  or  20  feet  in  length, 
and  about  2  feet  in  diameter.  The  trunk  is  cleaned  out  except  at 
opposite  ends  to  a  diameter  of  about  12  or  14  inches.  A  slit  along 
the  upper  surface  of  the  log  allows  the  contents  to  be  seen.  The  slit 
at  one  end  of  the  log  is  expanded  into  a  wide  open  gulley,  in  whicn 
the  cakes  of  meal  and  some  wooden  wedges  can  be  inserted.  The  floor 
of  the  trough  has  a  slope,  and  at  the  lowest  end  there  is  a  hole  for 
the  drainage  of  the  expressed  oil.  The  press  isj  then  filled  with  the 
cakes  up  to  the  gulley  or  open  portion.  Against  the  outer  end  of 
the  cakes  are  placed  circular  wooden  blocks,  and  behind  these  are 
three  rows  of  brick-shaped  blocks.  Into  each  row  of  the  latter  is 
forced  a  wedge  by  means  of  a  huge  wooden  mallet.  By  this  means 
enormous  pressure  is  exerted,  and  as  the  brick-shaped  blocks  slacken, 
others  are  put  in,  until  the  press  is  tightly  packed.  It  is  then  left 
for  twenty-four  hours  for  the  oil  to  trickle  out  into  a  large  pan  un- 
der the  hole  in  the  trunk.  All  the  oil  not  being  removed  by  the  first 
pressing,  the  pressed  cake  is  split  into  thin  plates,  which  are  fried  for 
a  few  minutes  and  again  submitted  to  pressure,  which  yields  extra 
oil.  The  oil  thus  expressed  is  ready  for  sale,  and  the  residual  meal 
finds  a  ready  market  as  manure. — Abstracted  from  the  Hongkonk 
Weekly  Press,  December  4,  1920;  through  the  Pharm.  Journ.  and 
Pharm.,  April,  1921. 
