324 



KiRKWooD AND GiES : Chemical Studies 



in many of the confections, of civilized man all over the globe.* 

 Immoderate use of the fruit, which according to the people of 

 the tropics is highly refrigerant, causes, it is said, rheumatic and 

 other diseases. t The milk is considered an agreeable cooling 

 beverage in the tropics. It has been known for some time that 

 irritation of the mucous membrane of the bladder and urethra is 

 caused by drinking too freely of the cocoanut milk.^ It is strongly 



Fig. 3. Ripe cocoanut. .5", lower part of axis forming the stem ; A, upper end of 

 axis with scars of male floweis ; Epi, epicarp ; Afes, mesocarp with fibers ; End, endo- 

 carp or hard shell ; T, portion of testa adhering to endosperm ; Alb, endosperm sur- 

 rounding cavity of the nut ; K, germinating eye. X \- Winton. 



diuretic. Parisi has used the cocoanut therapeutically as an an- 

 thelmintic with uniformly satisfactory results. § He states that the 

 meat of the nut is a powerful taenicide, the milk sharing the prop- 



*In the Annals of the New York Academy of Science, 13: 490, 1900-1901, 

 the following may be found : " Dr. Gies in answer to a question stated that the food 

 content of the cocoanut is small." This answer is quoted incorrectly. The question 

 referred to the nitrogenous food content. It was stated on that occasion that the 

 ** content oi p'roteid food-stuff is small." See page 340. 



t Pavy : A Treatise on Food and Dietetics physiologically and therapeutically 

 considered, 488. 1878. 



{Curtis: Annals" of the New York Academy of Sciences, 13: 490. 1900-1901. 



\ See Liebreich : Encyklopaedie der Therapie, i : 744. 1896. 



