TIIK PILI NUT OF THE PIIILIIMMNKS. 



Commercially it is ihe most important new nut which lias appcarctl on the American '"^'"^t-t 

 during recent years. The nuts (here shown natural size) have an excessively thuk shell 

 which demands attention from some tropical plant breeder; but the kernel is so delicate and 

 nutritious that an emulsion of it is frequently used as a substitute for milk in bringing up 

 infants A valuable commercial oil is pressed from them, while the resin of the tree is the 

 "gum elemi" of pharmacists, used in plasters and ointments. The nuts shipped to America 

 are mostly from forest trees, the genus not being cultivated in the Philippines, although 

 it is in the Dutch East Indies. (Figure U.) 



180 



