76 



Avell as I can make i't. of the larg-est fruit amono^st those which were 

 gathered. 



Fruit, fruit in section, and seeds of Coin nitida, one quarter natural size. 



The seeds are surrounded by a tegument of cream-coloured 

 waxy pulp resembling- that of the dnrian, and which is sweet and 

 not un])leasant to the taste. This sweet waxy pulp is very attrac- 

 tive to ants which, as soon as the pods open, quickly dispose of it. 



When kept stored for a couple or three days, the pulp gives off, 

 in the process of fermentation, the sweetish smell which is charac- 

 teristic of alcoholic fermentation, and this leads me to believe that,, 

 like other sul)stances containing sugar, alcohol could be obtained 

 by the distillation of the pulpy tegument. This has a bearing on 

 the possibility of Cola as a remunerative cultivation of the future, 

 as, in the case of alcohol being oJDtainable from the pulp, a ready 

 and inexpensive means would be at hand for making locally the 

 extract of Cola from fresh nuts, which contain all the valuable 

 principles of the nut, instead of shipping to Europe more or less 

 mouldy nuts with a loss of much of their active principles, as 1 

 shall presently show. 



The nuts are very irregular in size and in shape : and the 

 manner in which they are wedged one against the other in the shell 

 varies also greatly. 



The same remark applies to the arrangement of the cotyledons 

 which are packed together in the most intricate convolutions, one 

 sometimes almost encircling the other. 



After they have been divested of their sweet pulp, which rubs 

 oiT easily, the seeds are found wrapped up in a thin papery enve- 

 lope, which, 'like the pulp, is easily detachable. The naked seed 

 then remains, of a fresh light pink colour, with slightly outlined 

 1)rown wavy lines, which mark tlie line of division of the two coty- 

 ledons. A few of the seeds are of a deep ruby or purple colour; 

 but they are otherwise indistinguishable from other seeds, although 

 I have seen it stated that such nuts, as well as the pure white ones, 

 are preferred by the natives of Africa. 



After a week's exposure in a well aired place on my verandah, 

 the nuts, previously divested of tlieir envelopes, began to open, just 

 like an oyster would, the two cotyledons parting slightly; and, with 

 a little effort, they can then be completely separated from each 

 other. If left in that state, that is to say, only partly opened, it 

 is found that mould collects in the centre of the nut, at the point 



