8 PALM TREES 



which, in common with a similar product from some 

 other trees, is the Dragon's blood of commerce, and is 

 used as a pigment, for varnish, and in the manufacture 

 of tooth powder. The Ceroxylon andicola, a lofty palm 

 growing in the Andes of Bogota, produces a resinous 

 wax which is secreted in its stem and used by the in- 

 habitants of the country for making candles and for 

 other purposes. Again, in some of the northern pro- 

 vinces of Brazil is found a palm tree called Carnauba, 

 the Copernicia cerifera, having the underside of its 

 leaves covered with white wax, which has no admixture 

 of resin, but is as pure as that procured from our hives. 



The leaves of palms, however, are applied to the 

 greatest variety of uses ; thatch for houses, umbrellas, 

 hats, baskets and cordage in countless varieties are made 

 from them, and every tropical country possesses some 

 species adapted to these varied purposes, which in tem- 

 perate zones are generally supplied by a very different 

 class of plants. The Chip, or Brazilian-grass hats, so 

 cheap in this country, are made from the leaves of a 

 palm tree which grows in Cuba, whence they are im- 

 ported for the purpose : the palm is the Chamcerops 

 argentea ; and in Sicily an allied species, the Chamarops 

 humilis (the only European palm), is applied in a similar 

 manner to form hats, baskets, and a variety of useful 

 articles. 



The papyrus of the ancient Egyptians, and the me- 

 tallic plates on which other nations wrote, were not 

 used in India, but their place was supplied by the leaves 

 of palms, on whose hard and glossy surface the charac- 



