with half-ounce doses, morning and evening, which were gradually
reduced.

ILLEPE OIL.--The seeds of three species of Bassia, indigenous to
India, yield solid oils, and are remarkable for the fact, that they
supply at the same time saccharine matter, spirit, and oil, fit for
both food and burning in lamps. The Illepe( _B. longifolia_) is a tree
abundant in the Madras Presidency, the southern parts of Hindostan
generally, and the northern province of Ceylon. In Ceylon the
inhabitants use the oil in cooking and for lamps. The oil cake is
rubbed on the body as soap, and seems admirably adapted for removing
the unctuosity of the skin caused by excessive perspiration, and for
rendering it soft, pliable, and glossy, which is so conducive to
health in a tropical climate. The oil is white and solid at common
temperatures, fusing at from 70 to 80 degrees. It may be
advantageously employed in the manufacture of both candles and soap;
in Ceylon and some parts of India this oil forms the chief ingredient
in the manufacture of soap.

Mahower (_B. latifolia_) is common in most parts of the Bengal
Presidency. The oil a good deal resembles that last described,
obtained from the Illepe seeds; and may be used for similar purposes.
It is solid at common temperatures, and begins to melt at about 70
degrees.

Vegetable butter is obtained from the Choorie (_B. butyracea_). This
tree, though far less generally abundant than the other two species,
is common in certain of the hilly districts, especially in the eastern
parts of Kumaon; in the province of Dotee it is so abundant that the
oil is cheaper than ghee, or fluid butter, and is used to adulterate
it. It is likewise commonly burnt in lamps, for which purpose it is
preferred to coco-nut oil. It is a white solid fat, fusible at about
120 degrees, and exhibits very little tendency to become rancid when
kept.

Shea, or galam butter, is obtained in Western Africa from the _Bassia
Parkii_, or _Pentadisma butyracea_, a tree closely resembling the _B.
latifolia_, and other species indigenous to Hindostan. According to
Park, the tree is abundant in Bambara, the oil is solid, of a
greyish-white color, and fuses at 97 degrees. Its product is used for
a variety of purposes--for cooking, burning in lamps, &c.

This tree has much of the character of the laurel, but grows to the
height of eighteen or twenty feet. Its leaf is somewhat longer than
the laurel, and is a little broader at the point; t