THE BETEL NUT 



There are many of these relics of medieval times which 

 are difficult to explain or to find a reason for. 



Why, for instance, should old women always carry a sprig 

 of Southernwood to the kirk in their Bibles? The leaves 

 are, however, said to be disagreeable to insects. The 

 Lavender stalks usually placed in linen both keep away 

 insects and have a pleasant old-world scent. 



A great many of the properties possessed by plants are of 

 the most extraordinary and unsuspected nature. The roots 

 of the Madder (Ruhia tinctorum)^ for instance, when they are 

 eaten by swine or other animals, change the colour of their 

 bones, which become pink. This curious property has 

 actually been made useful, for physiologists have employed 

 madder in the study of the growth and development of 

 bone. 



In India and other eastern countries one is often shocked 

 and surprised to find an apparently quite healthy native 

 expectorating blood in a most lavish manner. 



But the native is only chewing Betel nuts, which have the 

 power of turning the saliva red. The fruit is that of Areca 

 Catechu^ a fine palm which is cultivated, for this purpose only, 

 in many parts of India and the East. The nuts are cut in 

 pieces and rolled up with a little lime in leaves of the Betel 

 pepper. It is said to turn the teeth red and sometimes to 

 produce intoxication ; at any rate, people become slaves to 

 this disgusting habit, and they do not seem to be at all 

 injured by indulgence in it. 



Another extraordinary plant is Henna {Lawsonia inermis). 

 The Egyptian mummies are found to have the soles of the 

 feet, as well as the palms and finger- and toe-nails, dyed a 

 reddish-orange colour by the use of henna. But the practice is 

 continued to-day in most parts of the East, and no odalisque's 



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