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stor oil of an excellent quality is also made in Italy; and in California the manufacture is conducted on an extensive scale. The following is an outline of the process adopted in a Californian factory. The seeds are submitted to a dry heat in a furnace for an hour or thereby, by which they are softened and prepared to part easily with their oil. They are then pressed in a large powerful screw-press, and the oily matter which flows out is caught, mixed with an equal proportion of water, and boiled to purify it from mucilaginous and albuminous matter. After boiling about an hour, it is allowed to cool, the water is drawn off, and the oil is transferred to zinc tanks or clarifiers capable of holding from 60 to 100 gallons. In these it stands about eight hours, bleaching in the sun, after which it is ready for storing. By this method 100 lb. of good seeds yield about 5 gallons of pure oil. Castor oil is a viscid liquid, almost colourless when pure, possessing only a slight odour, and a mild yet highly nauseous and disagreeable taste. Its specific gravity is .96, a little less than that of water, and it dissolves freely in alcohol, ether and glacial acetic acid. It contains palmitic and several other fatty acids, among which there is one--ricinoleic acid--peculiar to itself. This occurs in combination with glycerin, constituting the greater part of the bulk of the oil. The active principle to which the oil owes its purgative properties has not been isolated. It is, indeed, probable that it is formed in the intestine, as a result of some decomposition as yet unknown. The dose is from a drachm to an ounce. The pharmacopoeial mixture is best avoided, being almost uniquely nauseous. By far the best way to administer the oil is in capsules. It acts in about five hours, affecting the entire length of the bowel, but not increasing the flow of bile except in very large doses. The mode of its action is unknown. The oil will purge when rubbed into the skin or injected _per rectum_. It is an invaluable drug in temporary constipation and whenever a mild action is essential, as in pregnancy. It is extremely useful for children and the aged, but must not be employed in cases of chronic constipation, which it only aggravates, whilst relieving the symptoms. CASTREN, MATTHIAS ALEXANDER (1813-1853), Finnish ethnologist and philologist, was born at Tervola, in the parish of Kemi in Finland, on the 20th of November (December 2, 1813
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