Mr. G. Clark on the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands. 445 
shudder more than to see him seated on the leafstalk of a Coco- 
de-Mer, at nearly 100 feet from rocky ground, rising and fall- 
ing to the utmost extent the flexibility of the stalk allowed. He 
never met with any accident. The leaflets are of a glossy dark 
green on the upper side, and whitish green, slightly pubescent, 
on the under. They form a sharp fold, and are adherent in the 
greatest part of their length, the free ends growing longer as 
they recede from the centre of the leaf. The number of leaflets 
varies considerably ; some fronds have upwards of ninety. Each 
fold is strengthened by a strong rib ornerve. The texture of the 
leaf is very strong, and of a complicated formation ; it consists of 
three layers of fibres, enveloped in parenchyma. The two outer 
layers are longitudinal, and the centre transverse, and the epi- 
dermis itself is very strong. When the parenchyma and epidermis 
have decayed, the exposed fibres present much the appearance of 
coarse Scotch gauze. The leaf, previous to its unfolding, is 
covered with a thick fawn-coloured down, of a cottony feel. 
When the trees were numerous, this down was collected in suffi- 
cient abundance to form the stuffing of mattresses and pillows 
for the Praslinois. The most attentive observation leads to the 
belief that one leaf is produced every year, and from the scars 
left by their fall the age of the tree may be computed. 
Reckoned by this standard, some of the trees must be nearly 
four hundred years old. 
The male and female flowers are produced on separate trees. 
The spadix which supports them springs from the same circle of 
insertion as the leaf which accompanies it ; but, instead of rising 
from the axil of the leaf, it passes through the fissure of the 
petiole. The spathe, in both, is composed of three fibrous 
bracts, fitting one into the other, and opening by a longitudinal 
fissure on the outer side. The first bract, and generally the 
second, are concave on that side which is against the tree. The 
top of the first bract forms a sharpish edge; that of the second 
is pointed, and remains fixed between the tree and the upper 
part of the fissure of the petiole, thus supporting the weight of 
the spathe, while the top of the third bract, which is also pointed, 
is free. In the male flowers, the spathe is terminated by a 
catkin of 2 or 3 inches in diameter, and sometimes nearly 4 feet 
long, cylindrical, and rounded at the end. It is covered with 
brown scales closely imbricated, but so sloped at the ends as to 
allow the flowers to issue. These openings form symmetrical 
spiral lines round the catkin. A transverse fracture of the latter 
exhibits a series of reticulated tubercles, radiating from the axis 
to the circumference. These tubercles, which are nearly the 
shape of a Nautilus-shell, consist of an assemblage of about 
twenty sessile blossoms in various degrees of maturity, and form 
