Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/37

 PALM OIL been prepared from its juice. Blocks from the interior and softer parts of the stem are used in the southern states as a substitute for scrub- bing brushes, the softer portions wearing away and leaving the hard fibres to act as a brush. The leaves serve for thatching out-buildings, and are woven into baskets and mats and plait- ed into hats, and the younger leaves afford ma- terial for light and delicate bonnets. The saw palmetto (S. serrulata), so called on account of the sharp spiny teeth along the edges of the petiole, has a creeping stem 4 to 8 ft. long, from which arise leaves 2 to 4 ft. high ; these are circular, bright green, the erect divisions slightly cleft, without thread-like filaments ; the fruit is about three fourths of an inch long, with a sweet pulp ; it is said that the Indians use it as food, but in whites it causes purging and griping. The leaves, shred with a hatchel, boiled, and dried in the sun, make an excellent material for beds. It is said that the creeping stem, when grubbed up, dried, and burned, yields a greater amount of potash than any other vegetable substance. This species is common in sandy barrens from South Carolina southward. The dwarf palmetto (S. Ander- sonii) has its short stem wholly under ground ; its leaves, 2 to 3 ft. high, are of a glaucous green, longer than the smooth petiole, with the numerous divisions slightly cleft at apex, with sparing filaments between them ; the drupe is a third of an inch in diameter. It is found from North Carolina to Florida, sometimes, especially on some of the sea islands, quite covering sandy tracts. The chief use made of this is for fans, for which the leaves answer excellently ; it is frequently called palmeet and palmeta. These three species were placed by older botanists in the genus chamcerops, but the structure of their flowers refers them to sabal. We have, however, one chamcerops, known as the blue palmetto ( C. hystrix) ; this has a short creeping stem, with somewhat glaucous leaves 3 to 4 ft. high ; at the bases of the leaves are numerous erect strong spines, like porcupines' quills, which serve to distinguish it from the other palmettos ; the fruit is from one half to three fourths of an inch long. This does not appear to be put to any special use. It is found in the same states as the preceding, but prefers a richer soil, and is often found in moist shady woods and on the margins of swamps. PALM OIL, a fatty oil of the consistence of butter, of a rich orange color, sweetish taste, and odor like that of violets or orris root. It is the product of the fibrous fleshy coat of the drupe or stone fruit of the palm known as the elceis Guineemis of W. Africa, belonging to the tribe of cocoanut palms. The same oil is also obtained in Brazil, Cayenne, and the West In- dies, and is probably yielded by other species of palm besides that named. To obtain it, the negroes bruise the fruit and cover it with boil- ing water, upon which the oil rises and is skimmed from the surface. It retains the col- oring matter of the fruit, which is removed in the subsequent treatment of the oil in the Eng- lish factories, either by bleaching in shallow vats on the surface of hot water or by various chemical methods of treatment. Each drupe affording only about T of an ounce of oil, and each tree only 3 or 4 Ibs. of it, an immense amount of labor must be expended in secur- ing this product, and the forests of palm must be of great extent. The nuts were formerly rejected, but a clear limpid oil is now obtained from them, called palm-nut oil. Palm oil is very extensively used in the manufacture of candles and soap, and in the various kinds of axle grease. It melts to a very thin fluid at temperatures varying from 75 to 95 F. ; the older it is, the greater is the heat required to melt it. By age arid exposure it becomes Oil Palm (Elajis Guineensis) rancid and whitish. In ether it is perfectly soluble, slightly so in cold alcohol, and in boil- ing alcohol dissolves readily, but separates on cooling. It consists of margarine, oleine, and a solid fat resembling stearine and called pal- mitine, which constitutes about two thirds of its weight. This substance is further reduced to palmitic acid and oxide of glycerine. The change takes place in saponification ; and as these ingredients also exist uncombined in the commercial oil, this is in better condition than any other oil for the process of soap making. In the manufacture of candles, the oil, having been melted by steam pipes introduced into the casks, and freed from impurities, is mixed with one seventh to one sixth of its weight of sulphuric acid, and is briskly agitated for about two hours in copper boilers heated by steam