Palm oil (1692)

[George Thompson]

It's interesting that OED has "palm oil" in the sense of "bribe" from Thomas Middleton, Game of Chess, "a1627".

Does this imply that "palm oil" = "oil from a palm nut" was already known to Middleton?  The sense of "bribe" seems to be a joke on a preexisting literal meaning.

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African
Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998.

----- Original Message -----
From: Bapopik at AOL.COM
Date: Monday, March 31, 2003 8:02 pm
Subject: Palm oil (1692)

>   OED has 1705 for "palm oil."  Some say it's bad for you; I
> forgot which vacation I was on where it was used in everything.
>   From Early English Books Online:
>
>
> Author: Salmon, William, 1644-1713.
> Title: Medicina practica, or, Practical physick shewing the method
> of curing the most usual diseases happening to humane bodies ... :
> to which is added, the philosophick works of Hermes Trismegistus,
> Kalid Persicus, Geber Arabs, Artesius Longævus, Nicholas Flammel,
> Roger Bachon and George Ripley : all translated out of the best
> Latin editions into English ... : together with a singular comment
> upon the first book of Hermes, the most ancient of philosophers :
> the whole compleated in three books / by William Salmon ...
> Publication date: 1692.
> Search results: 1 match in full text
> table of contents | view text | add to bookbag
> SALMON'S Practical Physick. The First BOOK. > CHAP. XVII. Of BUBOES.
> • ... nces, Figgs three Ounces, Galbanum and Ammoniacum strained,
> Le|ven, Mustard-seed, of each an Ounce, Palm Oil, Oil of Amber,
> ana half an Ounce; mix, and make a Cataplasm. In a cold Bubo ...
>