Sesame
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Sesame. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an annual herbaceous plant of the genus Sesamum, natural order Bignoniaceæ, sub-order Pedaliaceæ a suborder characterized by wingless seeds, and placentæ with woody lobes attached to the inner wall of the fruit. The species most noteworthy of notice is S. indicum, sometimes identified with and sometimes distinguished from S. orientale, a native of India. Sesame is cultivated throughout the East from Egypt to Japan for the sake of the seeds, which yield by expression gingili oil. The oil is used in cookery-as a substitute for butter in the same way as olive oil-for lighting, and for the purposes of lubrication. It is inodorous, has a sweet taste, and keeps for years without becoming rancid. In Egypt and Arabia it is preferred to olive oil. It is used in connection with medicine. Egyptian women consider it the best of cosmetics. The oil cake, mixed with honey and preserved citron, is an Oriental luxury. The leaves of sesame abound in a gummy substance, which they readily impart to water, making a rich bland mucilage, which is used in the S. parts of the United States (where it is grown a little) as a demulcent drink. Sesame is sometimes called til seed.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
ses'a-me, a short, annual herb, India to Egypt, the small seeds of which yield half their weight of oil-of-sesame. It is a sweet, agreeable substitute for olive oil and is much in demand in the Orient as a substitute for our lard, butter, and sirup. Sesame oil is an ointment for the face. As an article of food it has the additional recommendation of keeping for years without becoming rancid. See Arabian Nights Open sesame, the charm by which the door of the robbers' dungeon in the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves (in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments ) flew open; hence, a specific for gaining entrance into any place, or means of exit from it.-Century Dictionary.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's placed sesame in the Bignoniaceae in 1921; botanists now give it a family of its own, Pedaliaceae, within the order Lamiales, and Sesamum indicum is the settled name for the crop. Both accounts treat it as an Oriental staple grown only "a little" in the southern United States; it is now one of the world's major oilseeds, with the largest harvests coming from Sudan, Myanmar, India, Tanzania and Nigeria, and tahini and hummus are supermarket goods across Europe and North America. Breeding of non-shattering varieties in the twentieth century made mechanical harvesting possible, which the hand-gathered crop of 1921 did not allow. The sharpest reversal is medical: the bland, agreeable oil of these entries is now treated as a significant food allergen, and the United States added sesame to its list of major allergens requiring labelling under the FASTER Act, effective from 2023.
Written for this edition, 2026.