Among the coco-nut oil exported from Ceylon, in 1849, there were 47,427½ gallons, valued at £3,595, the whole of which, I believe, was Cochin oil; the raw material of this kind not being, like the copperah generally in Ceylon, subjected to the action of fire, the product is finer, and fetches a better price in the London market.

Amongst the imports from British possessions in Asia, were 2,600 cwts., of copperah (dried coco-nut kernels, from which oil is expressed), valued at £1,100; amongst the imports re-exported to Great Britain, we find 870 cwts. of the same article, valued at £300. Of the oil exported a quantity of 11,000 gallons was shipped for the United States. About 600,000 piculs of coco-nut oil are annually exported from Siam.

A large quantity of oil is made in Trinidad, chiefly on the east coast, where, in one locality, there is an uninterrupted belt of coco-nut palms fourteen miles in extent. They usually bear when five years old.

The cultivation of the coco-nut in a proper soil presents a very profitable speculation for small capitalists. Whether sold at the rate of a dollar per hundred in their natural state, to captains of ships, who freely purchase them, or manufactured into oil, they are a very remunerative product. Each tree in the West Indies is calculated to produce nuts to the value of one dollar yearly. There is one thing to which we would draw the attention of chemists and other scientific men.

For twenty-four or even forty-eight hours after its manufacture this oil is as free from any unpleasant taste as olive oil, and can be used in lieu of it for all culinary purposes, but after that time it acquires such a rancid taste as to be wholly unpalateable. If any means could be discovered of preventing this deterioration in quality, and preserving it fresh and sweet, it could compete with olive oil, and the price and consumption would be largely raised.

COCO-NUT OIL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM.
Imports.
cwts.		Retained
for home
consumption.
cwts.
183519,83814,015
183626,05826,062
183741,21828,641
1838—38,669
1839—15,153
1840—37,269
1841—26,528
1842—26,225
1843—29,928
1844—42,480
184885,45354,783
184964,45114,622
185098,04046,494
185155,9952,333
1852101,86327,112

A London coco-nut oil soap was found, on analysis by Dr. Ure, to consist of:—

Soda4.5
Coco-nut lard22.0
Water73.5
100.0

This remarkable soap was sufficiently solid; but it dissolved in hot water with extreme facility. It is called marine soap, because it washes linen with sea water.