nuts are
transhipped to France, where they command a ready sale; are there
converted into oil, and thence find their way over the world in the
shape of olive oil; the skill of the French chemists enabling them to
imitate the real Lucca and Florence oil, so as to deceive the nicest
judges. Indeed, the oil from the pea nuts possesses a sweetness and
delicacy that cannot be surpassed.

Advices from the West Coast of Africa to the 16th August, 1853, report
that the ground nut season had closed; the quantity shipped during the
season having exceeded 900,000 bushels. The yield has increased 20 per
cent, each year for the last three years, and it is expected the
increase will be still greater in the forthcoming season.

TEUSS OIL.--The Chinese use what is called teuss or tea oil, for food
and other purposes. I have alluded to it under the head of pulse, at
page 312. It is obtained, however, from a species of the ground nut,
and is sold in Hong Kong, at 2s. 6d. the gallon, being imported from
the main land. By a local ordinance it is imperative on every
householder at Victoria, Hong-Kong, to have a lamp burning over his
door at night. When burning, this oil affords a clear, bright light,
and is not so offensive to the smell as train and other common lamp
oils.

TOBACCO SEED OIL.--A discovery, which may prove of some commercial
importance, appears to have been made by a British resident in Russia,
namely, that the seed of the tobacco plant contains about fifteen per
cent. of an oil possessing peculiar drying properties, calculated to
render it a superior medium, especially for paints and varnishes. The
process employed for the extraction of the oil is to reduce the seed
to powder, and knead it into a stiff paste with _quantum sufficit_ of
hot water, and then submit it to the action of strong fires. The oil
thus obtained is exposed to a moderate heat, which, by coagulating the
vegetable albumen of the seed, causes all impurities contained in the
oil to form a cake at the bottom of the vessel employed, leaving the
oil perfectly limpid and clear.

POPPY OIL.--About 80 cwt. of poppy seed is imported annually into
Hull, and small quantities come into other ports to be crushed into
oil. The seeds of the poppy yield, by expression, 56 per cent. of a
bland and very valuable oil, of a pale golden color, fluid to within
ten degrees of the freezing point of water. It dries easily, is
inodorous, and of an agreeable flavor like olive oi