The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1888-06-09
USES OE CASTOR OIL
0as OF the Most Valuable and Berviesabis
of Oleaginous Substances.

of Oleaginous Substances.
Castor oil. though best known for
its medicinal qualities, is from a me.
chanical point of view one Of the most
valuable Of all oleaginous substances.
The production of this oil in the
United States amounts to more than
300, 900 gallons per year. In 1880 the
value Of the product vas a little more
than $3.50, 900.
Castor oil is one Of the heaviest OF
oils. lis specific gravity is nearly as
great rs that of water, being .96ll.
1t IS the most viscid of the fixed oils
and mixes in all proportions, when
pure with alcohol and ether. AL
though in time in does o1idize
and become solid, yet it is prac-
:ically non-drying and non-gumming.
as it may be exposed in thin films for
months without showing any signs OF
cumming or hardening, properties
which give it great value for q variety
of purposes, For use upon leather II
excels all other oils. Neatsfoot oil is
not to be compared to it. It's viseosity
and its Indifference to the oxygen OF
the air, are among the reasons for its
preventative action. The first prevents
its being easily driven out of the
leather by the action of water or
dampncss. and the latter serves to
retard the slow destruction of the
leather by atmospheric action.
1t appears to have a peculiar
action upon leather. softening and
greatly improving that which has be-
come old and hard. Old boots which
are entirely beyond the reach Of any
ordinary preparations may be greatly
improved and made almost like new
leather by the application OF castor
oil There is little difficulty in black,
ing leather after this oil has been ap-
piled. The ordinary preparations Of
beeswax. tallow and rosin, when APP
piled to leather. do make it water
proof for a time, but as they penetrate
and harden in the leather they ap-
pear to open its pores, and when
they have at last been driven Out
by moisture, which happens in a short
time, the leather is Tor porous than
before. Ordinary oils appear to open
the pores and to do very little toward
rendering the leather permanently
soft and pliable. A wetting, aftel
these preparations have been applied
leaves them worse than before. es'
pecially il they have been wet will
snow water.
Leather hose and leather belts
when treated with castor oil, las
much longer than when any oihe
material is used upon them. On
author goes so far rs to say that the,
last years longer. A belt well filled
with castor oil will d. the work o
one fifty per cent. wider, which has no
been so treated, and at the same tim'
last more than twice as long. An
other recommendation is that rats AM
mice will not touch the leather, a
they dislike the oil.
For the fabrication OF light ma
chinery, castor oil is very valuable, a
it does not gum. AMI It's slow-fowin|
prevents it from working out Of tn
bearings as quickly as the minera
oils. In this respect it is far ahead c
most other oils of tho same class
Compared with ordinary 'black oil
|, it would stand as 1870 to l6 or II. A
though it is very thick, it does nc
solidify or freeze until it has bee
cooled to 8 or 4 degrees below zero
t It's melting point is about 10 degree
above zero. The addition of one
, quarter part by weight of beeswaX
; sufficient to convert the oil into a sol
solid which might be used for man
kinds of fabrication where a grease
: need d. - Mechanical NeWS.