124 
The Dasylirions are mostly natives of Mexico, where they grow in 
comparatively waste dry regions. 
Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera, Linn.) and Wild Date (Phoenix 
sylvestris, Roxb.). | Sometimes the sap obtained from. the stems is 
distilled into spirit in India, but the former plant is of greater 
importance for the fruit and the latter for the production of sugar 
or “ Jaggery.” 
(5.) Leaves. 
Utschkui (Heracleum Sphondylium, Linn.), an Umbellifer, native 
of Europe and N. Asia. The petioles of the leaves have been used 
in the preparation of alcoholic beverages in Russia, Poland, 
Kamschatka, &c. In Russia a spirit is obtained by fermenting 
and distilling an infusion of the petioles from which the outer skin 
as been removed, a necessary condition, as the spirit would other- 
wise be poisonous. e berries of Lonicera coerulea, Linn., 01 
berries of Myrtle (Myrtus communis, Linn.), are added to the mash, 
and the spirit when rectified is said to be more palatable than that 
of native corn-spirit.! 
Sisal Hemp or Henequen (Agave rigida, Mill. var. sisalana, Pers.). 
It has recently been found possible to produce a spirit from the 
waste fleshy matter of the leaf scraped off in the process of extracting 
the fibre and from the juice of the leaf. The discovery is due to a 
resident in Yucatan and some importance is attached to it as an 
. 
auxiliary to the already important fibre industry.’ 
(6.) INFLORESCENCES. 
Palmyra or Black Run Palm (Borassus flabellifer, Linn.), native of 
Tropical Africa ; cultivated in India, Burma and Ceylon. From 
the unopened spathes of this palm a sap is drawn, known in India 
as “toddy,” from which the spirit “arrack” is distilled. Accord- 
ing to Watt the tapping does not injure the wood as in the case of 
the date-palm, since it is only necessary to bruise the flower stalk 
_ and to crush the young flower or fruit within, and with this object 
slices of the spathe are made for several days in succession. An 
earthen pot into which the sap runs is tied to the end of the stump, 
and if the juice is to be drunk fresh the pot is coated with lime 
inside in order to prevent fermentation. The Palmyra continues 
to yield sap at the rate of three or four quarts a day for four or 
five months. It begins to yield when about 15 to 20 years old and 
goes on for about 50 years, but once in three years the operation 
must be discontinued or the tree would die. The female tree yields 
about half as much sap again as the male. The juice is richer 
in sugar than most other palms; it is said that three quarts of juice 
will make one pound of “jaggery.”? 
eoa-nut Palm (Cocos nucifera, Linn.), widely distributed in 
tropical countries near the sea. Yields a sap from the spathe, the 
collection and preparation of which is done in much the same manner 
' Pharm. Journ, [4], xxxiii. 1911, p. 779. 
? Journ. Roy. Soe, ie Ix. 1912, p. 420, 
** Watt, Comm. Prod. India,” 
+ P. 1. 
[aay 
% 
