PALMM 515 



Cuci of Pliny (13,19) ^ but their description appears to agree 



better witb the Hyphwne corlacea or Doom palm of Egypt. 

 The Arabs call the cocoanut Ndrjil, and the Persians Nargil, 

 Badinj, and Ranaj ; their physicians describe it as hot and dry, 

 nutritive and aphrodisiacal, beneficial to those suffering from 

 piles ; the kernel^when fit has been kept for some time is con- 

 sidered to be anthelmintic. They remark that it is not easily 

 digested, especially when old. 



Europe 



drink, useful in 



in the unripe fruit as a cooling 



milky 



unripe 



in debility and cachexia 



Mr. W. 



use as a substitute for castor oil. {Pharmacopoeia of India, 

 The anthelmintic Dronertie^ of the cocoanut noticed by Maho 



an 



kernel 



castor oil. Cocoanut oil has been recommended as a substitute 

 for cod liver oil, but its prolonged use is said to induce dis- 

 turbance of the digestive organs and diarrhoea ; this objection 

 may be removed by using the olein separated from the solid 

 fats, as is done by the natives in the preparation of what 

 tliey call muthel or hand oil. To prepare this the kernel 

 of the fresh nuts is pulped and strained and the oil 

 separated from the milky fluid by heating it ; a preparation 

 of the same kind is now known in Europe as coco-olein. 

 Cocoanut oil is not suitable as a vehicle for liniments, but 

 the soap prepared from it, and known as marine soap, may 

 ^e used in plaster-making and in the preparation of soap 

 liiiiment ; it is freely soluble in spirit. A purified cocoanut 

 ^ has of late years been introduced in Germany as a 

 substitute for lard ; it has been recommended to pharmacists 

 ^s less Hable to ^ 



obtained by cutting the "spathe of the cocoa palm, when 



and distiUed, yields a clean spiiit suitable for 



ran 



harine 



ferm 



pharmaceutical purposes. 



