HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



3i 



on the inner surface, and a dark spotted appearance 

 at others ; the rectum also contained similar faeces, 

 but mixed with a curdy matter, and there were several 

 large patches of ulceration on the inner coat, more 

 particularly near the termination of the gut : the 

 kidneys were healthy, on the right the capsula renalis 

 was large, but none was visible on the left ; the 

 bladder was quite empty, the inner surface scarcely 

 moist. The animal had been castrated, but the sper- 

 matic cord terminated in the scrotum in two small 

 oval substances, rather larger than peas ; the sacrum 

 and os coccygis were similar to those parts in the 

 human subject. The communication of the larynx 

 was examined ; the epiglottis was only indicated by a 

 slight obtuse angular rising ; the sacculi laryngis three- 

 eighths of an inch in the long diameter, one-eighth 

 in the short ; their margins were well defined, con- 

 tinued forwards below the body of the os hyoides 

 into a membranous sac situated internal to the external 

 thick one. This animal has one common sac, and 

 thus differs from the orang-utan, which has two ; the 

 lungs also differ from those in the orang-utan in being 

 subdivided on each side, the right lung having three, 

 the left two lobes, as in the human subject. The 

 extremities of the bones of the animal were cartila- 

 ginous. 



When at Achua, on the coast of Sumatra, the 

 Rajah and suite came on board, and I amused them 

 with some drawings, among others they recognised 

 that of the Pearly Nautilus, but said it was seldom 

 procured at this place, but was occasionally seen off 

 the coast. They were not acquainted with the orang- 

 utan of which I showed them the engraving in Abel's 

 " China," but immediately recognised that of the ungka 

 gibbon, which, they stated, was found in the forests 

 of the interior of the island, but was very difficult to 

 capture alive. As mentioned by the Rajah there 

 must be great difficulty in procuring them alive, as 

 since the one given me at Singapore, I am not aware 

 of any specimen, young or adult, of this species of 

 gibbon having ever been brought alive to Europe. 



THE IVORY-NUT PALM. 



IN 1843 Mr. William Purdie was despatched to 

 New Granada to collect plants for the Royal 

 Gardens, Kew. He was especially instructed to find 

 a few special plants, one of which was the ivory-nut 

 palm, of which he says : — "In a journey of 600 miles 

 from Santa Martha to Ocana in New Granada, at the 

 village of Semana, seventeen leagues from hence 

 (Ocana), and near the great river Magdalena, I 

 entered the mountains by the Paroquia del Carmen, 

 and saw for the first time the ivory-nut palm (Phyt- 

 elephas fnacrocarpa), called Tagua by the natives. 

 The habit of this palm is to have little or no stem, 

 what there is is decumbent ; its habit is not robust. 

 Old plants have from fifteen to twenty pinnate leaves, 



which when full grown measure nearly twenty feet in 

 length, of a delicate pale green colour, and very 

 graceful in aspect ; the pinnae are numerous and 

 linear, the whole leaf being similar to that of the 

 date palm. The male and female flowers are pro- 

 duced on separate plants (dioecious). The female 

 flowers are produced generally in six clusters from 

 the bases of the leaves on short footstalks. The 

 clusters are of an imperfectly rounded form, covered 

 with strong protuberances, about an inch and a half 

 long. The clusters are compactly united together, 

 forming a nearly globose head, and on account of the 

 style-like projections resembling the rigid hair of a 

 negro it is not inaptly called Cabeza del Negro (negro's 

 head). The h«tids lie close to the ground, each cluster 

 containing four to five seeds. The seed contains at 

 first a clear insipid fluid ; it afterwards becomes milky 

 and sweet, and ultimately hardens, and becomes the 

 vegetable ivory of commerce. Each nut is about the 

 size of a green walnut, and is covered with a yellow, 

 sweet, oily pulp, which is collected and sold under 

 the name of Pepo del Tagua, for one real (6a'.) a 

 pound at Ocana. A spoonful of it, with a little 

 sugar and water, makes the celebrated Chiche de 

 Tagua, said to be the most delicious beverage of 

 the country." 



The stem of the male plant is longer and more 

 erect than that of the female, regarding which Mr. 

 Purdie says : "I have at last had the good fortune to 

 detect the male flowers of the ivory-nut palm, for 

 which I long sought in vain. The singularity of its 

 inflorescence is only equalled by its beauty. It differs 

 from most other • palms by having a double spathe ; 

 the central column is thickly set with clusters of male 

 blossoms, and forms, when taken all together, a mass 

 three feet long and four inches thick. Half is con- 

 cealed within the spathe, from which the other portion 

 projects in a gracefully recurved form. The fragrance 

 is most powerful and delicious, beyond that of any 

 other plant, and so diffusive that the air for many 

 yards around was alive with myriads of annoying 

 insects, which first attracted my attention, the dense- 

 ness of the vegetation not permitting me to discern 

 the blossoms at any distance. I had afterwards to 

 carry it in my hands for twelve miles, and though I 

 killed a number of insects that followed me, the next 

 day a great many still hovered about it, which had 

 come from the wood where it grew, which are dense 

 and shady, and abound with snakes. The men I had 

 with me found it necessary to dislodge them from the 

 plants with a long stick before they approached them. 

 We killed several, not particularly formidable in 

 appearance, but deadly in their nature. A cross, 

 decorated with flowers and a few loose stones, near 

 one of the Tagua woods, marks the grave of a young 

 man who died a few hours after being bitten by one 

 of these snakes." 



Mr. Purdie having sent abundance of seeds to Kew, 

 many plants were raised, one of which in 1864 had 



