77 



of attachment of the two cotyledons, instead of on the surface, from 

 the fact, no doubt that the inner moisture of the nut finds an exit 

 at that central spot, where for lack of ventilation, mould o^athers. 

 This explains the practice of shippiiio^ to Europe nuts which are 

 split in halves, so as to avoid the gathering of mould between the 

 cotyledoi.s and, Jience it is that we see in the records of sales of 

 Cola nuts, as in the Trade Eeport of the " Chemist and Druggist " 

 of May nth, 1918, the following: 



" Cola. 3 bags of fair dried Jamaica halves, sold at 11 pence, 

 " being about steady. — 207 bags slightly mouldy African qualities 

 "were limited at lid." 



The storage of Cola nuts offers some little difficulty, as, oxy- 

 dation keeping pace with dessication, the nuts become not only 

 lighter and lighter in weight, but they also take a very dark colour, 

 and are apt to become the feeding-ground of a tiny, but fat, white 

 maggot, which riddles the surface of the nuts with wavy furrows 

 and renders them " wormy " — greatly depreciating their value. 

 The best way to preserve the nuts in a fresh state, as far as I can 

 judge, is to put them in air-tight tins, and to give them an airing 

 once a week. By this means, the nuts do not lose weight so fast, 

 and they keep their pink colour longer ; but after a month, brown 

 spots appear and the nuts, bye-and-bye, assume the objectionable 

 dark colour. The problem of landing nuts in Europe in the fresh 

 state, can be, it is said, solved by sterilising the nuts, but I am not 

 aware that this is carried on to any extent, and, at any rate, it 

 must result in a l)ig increase in the cost of marketing the nuts. 



My weighings of Cola nuts, fresh and dry, give the following 

 figures : 



18 fresh large nuts weigh . . 



21 „ medium ,, • • 



24 ,, nuts at random . . 



26 nuts after 6 days' drying 



These weights do not agree with those given by August Che- 

 valier anxl Perrot, who put down 12 grammes as the average 

 weight of fresh nuts, which would make about 39 required to the 

 pound. But the nuts referred to in their book are from Dahomey 

 or French Guinea and therefore not C. riitida; and it is stated that 

 the nuts of the hvivy Coast, where C. nitida occurs, are larger and 

 weigh on the average 25 grammes i.e. about 18 to the pound. 



The active principles of Cola, on which depend its physiological 

 and stimulating properties are : 

 1st. Caffeine of which it contains from 2% to 2.5% i.e. much 



more than coffee itself. 

 2nd. Theoljromine, the alcaloid found in the cocoa beans. 

 3rd. Kolatine, a substance as yet imperfectly known. 

 4th. Betain, an alcaloid found in l)eet and other plants *'■ slightly 

 diuretic and non toxic" (Henry). 



