Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 78

=Oil, Gourd.= See OIL OF CUc.u.mBER.

=Oil of Ground Nuts.= From the nuts of _Arachis hypogaea_. Glutinous.

=Oil of Gurgun.= See BALSAM, GURGUN.

=Oil of Hemp.= _Syn._ OLEUM CANNABIS, L. From the seed of _Cannabis sativa_ (Linn.), or common hemp. Mawkish. Sometimes used for frying, but chiefly for paints, soaps, &c. Freely soluble in boiling alcohol; does not thicken until cooled to 5 Fahr. Sp. gr. 9276. _Prod._ 18% to 24%.

=Oil of Jatro'pha.= _Syn._ OIL OF WILD CASTOR SEEDS; OLEUM JATROPHae, L.

From the seeds of _Jatropha purgans_. Somewhat resembles CROTON OIL. Used for lamps in the East Indies.

=Oil, Kundah.= _Syn._ TALLIc.o.o.nAH O.; OLEUM TOULOUCOUNae, L. From the fruit of _Carapa Touloucouna_. Rancid, nauseous, vermifuge, rubefacient, emetic, and purgative. Chiefly used in lamps.

=Oil, Lard.= _Syn._ TALLOW O., CRUDE OLEIN, C. OLEIC ACID; OLEUM ADIPIS, L. By separating the olein of lard from the stearin by means of boiling alcohol. Only applicable where spirit is cheap. The product is, however, excellent. The crude oleic acid, or lard oil of commerce, is chiefly obtained as a secondary product in the manufacture of stearin. It is purified by agitation with sulphuric acid, and subsequently by steaming it, or was.h.i.+ng it with hot water. Burns well in lamps, if the wick-tube is kept cool. Sp. gr. 9003.

=Oil, Linseed.= _Syn._ OLEUM LINI (B. P., Ph. L., E. & D.), L. 1.

(COLD-DRAWN LINSEED OIL; OLEUM LINI SINE IGNE.) From the seed of _Linum usitatissimum_ (Linn.), or common flax, bruised or crushed, and then ground and expressed without heat. Pale, insipid, viscous; does not keep so well as the next. _Prod._ 17% to 20%.

2. As the last, but employing a steam heat of about 200 Fahr. Amber coloured; less viscous than the last; congeals at 2; soluble in 5 parts of boiling and 40 parts of cold alcohol. Both are drying and cathartic.--_Dose_, 1 to 2 oz.; in piles, &c. Chiefly used in paints, varnishes, &c. Sp. gr. 9347. _Prod._ 22% to 27%.

3. (BOILED LINSEED OIL.) See OILS (Drying).

=Oil of Mace (Expressed).= See OIL OF NUTMEG (Expressed).

=Oil of Male Fern.= See EXTRACT OF MALE FERN.

=Oil of Mustard.= _Syn._ OLEUM SINAPIS, L. 1. (OIL OF WHITE MUSTARD.) From _Sinapis alba_, or white mustard, but chiefly from _Sinapis arvensis_, _S.

chinensis_, _S. dichotoma_, _S. glauca_, _S. ramosa_, and _S. tori_.

Sweet. Used for the table. Sp. gr. 9142 (2160--Ure). _Prod._ 36%.

2. (OIL OF BLACK MUSTARD; OLEUM SINAPIS NIGRI, L.) From the 'hulls' of black-mustard seed. Viscid, stimulant. Used in rheumatism, Sp. gr. 9168 to 9170. See OILS (Volatile).

3. (OIL OF WHITE MUSTARD; OLEUM RAPHANI, L.) From the seed of _Rapha.n.u.s raphanistrum_ (Linn.), or jointed charlock or wild mustard. _Prod._ 30%.

=Oil, Neat's-foot.= _Syn._ NERVE OIL, TROTTER O.; OLEUM BUBULUM, O.

NERVINUM, AXUNGIA PEDUM TAURI, L. From neat's-feet and tripe, by boiling them in water, and skimming off the oil. Does not thicken by age. Used to soften leather, to clean fire-arms, and for other purposes.

OIL, NUT. _Syn._ HAZEL-NUT O.; OLEUM NUCIS, O. CORYLI, L. From the kernels of _Corylus Avellana_ (Linn.), or hazel-nut tree. Pale, mild tasted, drying; superior to linseed oil for paints and varnishes. It is commonly sold for oil of almonds and oil of ben, and is extensively employed to adulterate both. Walnut oil is also frequently sold for nut oil. Sp. gr.

9260. _Prod._ 63%(Ure).

=Oil of Nut'meg (Expressed).= _Syn._ EXPRESSED OIL OF MACE, b.u.t.tER OF M.; OLEUM MYRISTICae (CONCRETUM) (Ph. L.), MYRISTICae ADEPS (Ph. E.), M.

BUTYRUM, O. MYRISTICae EXPRESSUM (B. P.), O. MOSCHATae, O. NUCISTae, L. "The concrete oil expressed from the seed of _Myristica officinalis_," Linn.

(Ph. L.), or common nutmeg. The nutmegs are beaten to a paste, enclosed in a bag, exposed to the vapour of hot water, and then pressed between heated iron plates. Orange coloured, fragrant, spicy; butyraceous, or solid. It is a mixture of the fixed and volatile oils of the nutmeg. When discoloured and hardened by age, it is called 'BANDA SOAP' (OL. MACIS IN Ma.s.sIS). When pure, it is soluble in 4 parts of boiling alcohol and in 2 parts of ether. It has been used in rheumatism and palsy, but is now chiefly employed for its odour and aromatic qualities. From the East Indies. _Prod._ 17% to 20%.

=Oil, Ol'ive.= _Syn._ SALAD OIL, SWEET O.; OLIVae OLEUM (B. P.), OLEUM OLIVARUM, O. OLIVae (Ph. L., E., & D.), L. The "oil expressed from the fruit" of "_Olea europa_, Linn." (Ph. L.), or common olive. Five different methods are employed to obtain the oil, from the fruit:

1. (VIRGIN OIL; O. O. VIRGINEUM, L.); (HUILE VIERGE, Fr.) From olives, carefully garbled, either spontaneously or only by slight pressure, in the cold. That yielded by the pericarp of the fruit is the finest.

2. (Ordinary 'FINE OIL,') This is obtained by either pressing the olives, previously crushed and mixed with boiling water, or by pressing, at a gentle heat, the olives from which the virgin oil has been obtained. The above processes furnish the finer salad oils of commerce. The cake which is left is called 'GRIGNON,'

3. (SECOND QUALITY.) By allowing the bruised fruit to ferment before pressing it. Yellow; darker than the preceding; but mild and sweet tasted.

Much used for the table.

4. ('GORGON.') By fermenting and boiling the pressed cake or marc in water, and skimming off the oil. Inferior.

5. (OIL OF THE INFERNAL REGIONS; OLEUM OMPHACINUM) is a very inferior quality of oil, which is skimmed off the surface of the water in the reservoirs into which the waste water which has been used in the above operations is received, and allowed to settle. The last two are chiefly used for lamps, and in soap-making, &c.

Of the princ.i.p.al varieties of olive oil known in commerce, and distinguished by the place of their production, 'PROVENCE OIL' is the most esteemed; 'FLORENCE OIL' and 'LUCCA OIL' are also of very fine quality; 'GENOA OIL' comes next, and then 'GALLIPOLI OIL,' which forms the ma.s.s of what is used in England; 'SICILY OIL,' which has a slightly resinous flavour, is very inferior; and 'SPANISH OIL' is the worst imported.

_Prop., &c._ Olive oil is a nearly inodorous, pale greenish-yellow, unctuous fluid, with a purely oleaginous taste, peculiarly grateful to the palate of those who relish oil. It does not suffer active decomposition at a heat not exceeding 600 Fahr.; and when cooled to 36it congeals into a granular solid ma.s.s. It is very slightly soluble in alcohol, but its solubility is increased by admixture with castor oil. It is soluble in 1-1/2 part of ether. When pure it has little tendency to become rancid.

Sp. gr. 9170 to 9173; 9192, at 53-1/2 (Saussure); 9176, at 59 (Heidenreich); and 9109, at 77 Fahr. (Saussure). _Prod._ 32%, of which 21% is furnished by the pericarp, and the remainder, which is inferior, by the seed and woody matter of the fruit.

_Pur._ Olive oil, with the exception of that of almonds, being the most costly of the ordinary fixed oils of commerce, is, consequently, the one most subject to adulteration. Nut, poppy, rape, and lard oil, are those most commonly used for this purpose. Refined tallow olein, including that obtained from the 'knackers' yards' of Paris, is said to have been used in the same way. The addition of any other oil to olive oil renders it far less agreeable to the palate, and, by increasing its tendency to rancidity, much more likely to offend and derange the stomach and bowels of those who consume it. Parties who indulge themselves in the use of this luxury would, therefore, do well to ascertain that what they purchase is pure. When pure, and also fresh, olive oil is most wholesome as an article of food or us a condiment.

The detection of the sophistication of salad oil is a matter of no great difficulty. The palate of the connoisseur will readily perceive the slightest variation in the quality of his favourite condiment. Other methods, however, of a more accurate and certain description, and of more general application, are adopted. Amongst these, in addition to those mentioned above, are the following:--

_a._ When pure olive oil is shaken in a phial, only half filled, the 'bead' or bubbles rapidly disappear; but if the sample has been mixed with poppy or other oil, the bubbles continue longer before they burst.

_b._ Olive oil congeals at 36 Fahr., and is completely solidified when a small bottle containing it is surrounded by ice, or a freezing mixture; but when mixed with poppy oil, it remains partly liquid, even when the latter forms only 1-4th of the ma.s.s; if more than 1-3rd of poppy oil is present, it does not solidify at all, unless cooled much below the freezing point of water.

_c._ (Ph. E.) When olive oil is "carefully mixed with 1/12th part of its volume of a solution of 4 oz. of mercury in 8 fl. oz. 6 dr. of nitric acid (sp. gr. 1500), it becomes in 3 or 4 hours like a firm fat, without any separation of liquid oil."

_d._ M. Pontet recommends the mercurial solution to be made by dissolving 6 parts of mercury in 7-1/2 parts of nitric acid (sp. gr. 135), without heat; of this solution he adds 1 part to every 48 parts of the oil, and well shakes the mixture every 30 minutes, until it begins to solidify.

This it does after about 7 hours in summer and 4 or 5 hours in winter, and when the oil is pure it will have formed, in 24 hours, a ma.s.s so hard that some little force must be employed to thrust a gla.s.s rod into it. The other edible oils do not furnish a hard ma.s.s with nitrate of mercury. The solidity of the ma.s.s is exactly in proportion to the quant.i.ty of foreign oil present. When the sophistication is equal to 1-8th of the whole, a distinct liquid layer separates; when the mixture contains half its volume of an inferior oil, one half only of the mixture becomes solid, and the other half continues liquid. A temperature of about 90 Fahr. is the best to cause the oil and coagulum to separate perfectly from each other. When the oil has been adulterated with animal oil, the mixture solidifies in about five hours; but in this case the coagulum consists of the animal oil, whilst the olive oil floats on the surface, and may be decanted for further examination. This coagulum, on being heated, exhales the well-known odour of rancid fat or melted tallow.

_e._ Dr Ramon Cordina Langlies states that the best reagent for the examination of olive oil is that of Hauchecorne.

This reagent is composed of three parts of pure nitric acid at 40 with one part of distilled water. The following is Dr Langlies' process for proving that olive oil does not contain seed oil, and more especially cotton oil:--

He mixes three grammes of the oil to be tested with one gramme of the reagent in a test tube, or a small stoppered flask, and heats the liquid in a water bath. If the oil is pure the mixture becomes clearer, and takes a yellow colour, like purified oil; if it is adulterated with seed oil, it acquires the same transparency as the pure oil, but becomes red. With 5 per cent. of seed oil the reddish colouring is characteristic; with 10 per cent. it is decided. The reaction does not require more than from 15 to 20 minutes.

The colouring of the oils lasts for three days.

_Uses, &c._ The dietetical uses of olive oil are well known. In Spain and Italy it is commonly employed as a subst.i.tute for b.u.t.ter. It is highly nutritious, but is digested with difficulty by some persons, and hence should be avoided by the dyspeptic. Like almond oil, it is occasionally employed as a laxative and vermifuge, and is, perhaps, one of the mildest known. In _pharmacy_ it is extensively employed in the preparation of cerates, liniments, ointments, and plasters.--_Dose._ For an adult, 1/2 to 1 wine-gla.s.sful as a mild aperient; for an infant, 1/2 to 1 teaspoonful, mixed up with an equal quant.i.ty of honey, syrup of roses, or syrup of violets. The white fibrous sediment which forms in the recently expressed oil is the 'AMURCA' of Pliny, and was formerly highly esteemed in medicine.

=Oil, Olive, Droppings.= _Syn._ SWEET-OIL D. The 'foots' or 'deposits,'

and the 'drippings' of the casks, cisterns, and utensils. Used for machinery, making soap, &c.

=Oil, Olive (Oxygenated).= _Syn._ OLEUM OLIVae OXYGENATUM (Ph. Batav.), L.

Olive oil, 16 oz., is placed in a receiver surrounded with ice or very cold water, and chlorine is slowly transmitted through it for several days, or until it becomes thick and viscid, after which it is well washed with warm warm.

=Oil, Palm.= _Syn._ PALM b.u.t.tER; OLEUM PALMae;, L. From the fruit of _Elais Guineensis_, and _E. melanococca_, the Guinea oil palms. Orange or red coloured; butyraceous or solid; smells of violets; unchanged by alkalies; bleached by sunlight, age, exposure, chlorine, chromic acid, and oil of vitriol; melts at 117-1/2 Fahr. Sp. gr. 968. Demulcent. Used to colour and scent ointments, pomades, &c.; but chiefly to make soap and candles.

From Africa.

=Oil, Pi"ney.= _Syn._ PINEY TALLOW, P. DAMMAR, P. RESIN. From _Vateria Indica_ (Linn.) or paenoe tree. Resinous flavoured, fragrant, made into candles. Sp. gr. 926.

=Oil, Pop'py.= _Syn._ OLEUM PAPAVERIS, L.; OLIETE, HUILE BLANCHE, Fr. From the seeds of _Papaver somniferum_ (Linn.), or white poppy. Sweet; pale; dries and keeps well. Used for salads, paints, and soaps; also (extensively) to adulterate almond oil, for the inferior qualities of which it is frequently sold. It does not freeze until cooled to 0 Fahr.

Sp. gr. 9243 to 9245. _Prod._ 48% to 54%.

=Oil of Pumpkin.= _Syn._ OLEUM CUCURBITae. Expressed from the seeds of the pumpkin; a soothing application to piles.