An inferior quality is that made at Oshogbo and north of Ibadan generally. The fruits, after having been boiled for about three hours, have the fibrous pulp sufficiently loosened, so that the whole is easily separated from the nuts by pounding in a wooden mortar. The fibrous mass thus obtained is then put into a pit, which is filled to a depth of about eighteen inches with cold water, and the oil is expressed by women and young girls, who tread it out with their feet. After leaving the water undisturbed for a short time, the oil rises to the surface, from which it is skimmed, or it may be precipitated, by the removal of a plug placed in the side of the pit, into a vessel placed to receive it. The treading process is repeated until most of the oil is extracted. The oil is then separated from the water which it contains by boiling. The fibrous pulp is next removed, strained in baskets, and is placed upon rocks to dry in the sun, after which it is pressed into large balls, which are sold in the local markets at 1_d_. each. Much of this finds its way to Lagos Town, where it is sold for fuel at the rate of 8_d_. for 8½ lb. In this connection it may be mentioned that there appears to be no foundation for the statement which has been made to the effect that this residual pulp is exported in large quantities from Lagos for the further extraction of oil by chemical means in Europe. An illustration is given showing a girl straining fibrous pulp in an oil pit at Oshogbo (Fig. 22). In the Central and Eastern Provinces “hard” oil is the commercial name applied to the kind which is generally made. At Onitsha the natives may be seen bringing in this oil, which is of such a consistency that even at an atmospheric temperature of 90° it remains in a solid wax-like condition. The earthen vessels in which such oil is conveyed to the factories, when accidentally dropped and broken, do not necessarily occasion the loss of any oil. The thickened condition is entirely due to the method of preparation, during which important chemical changes occur, which appear to be detrimental to the oil for some of its most important uses, especially that of soap manufacture, while rendering it suitable for employment for making candles. The important difference in the preparation of this oil lies in the fact that instead of the fresh fruits being used, the pericarp is separated from the nuts by means of partial decomposition, induced by burying the fruits in the ground for a period varying from three weeks to two months. The semi-decomposed pericarp is then easily removed by pounding or treading out in a canoe-shaped receptacle, after which the fibrous mass is boiled, and the liquid oil is skimmed and allowed to set in earthen jars, in which it is carried for sale to the factories.