Boraxnus.} PALM*]. 417 



The following experiments have been made ou the weight and transverse strength 

 of the timber : 



Weight. Value of I'. 



A. Mendis, Ceylon, No. 83, bars2'Xl"xl" . found 65 Ibs. 814, 



Skinner, Madras, No. 30, 1862 . . . . 65 '.HI 



Warth in 1878, No. W. 2922 ..... 63 



Salem, No. 15 ..... , 72 



The weights of all our pieces are given below, but Nos. W. 2922 and Salem 15 were 

 the only ones consisting entirely of the outer, harder wood. The average of all our 

 specimens gives 49 to 50 Ibs., which may be taken as the average weight of pieces con- 

 taining partly outside, partly inside wood. The hollowed out sterns are used as water 

 pipes ; and, split in half, for gutters and open water channels. The hard, outer wood 

 is used for posts, rafters and other purposes. The leaves are used for thatch, mats 

 and basket work, and for writing on. The pulp of the fruit is eaten, and in Ceylon 

 is made into a preserve. Seemann says that the Dutch, when they had p<>- 

 sion of Ceylon, considered the preserved pulp or Punatoo such a dainty that large 

 quantities of it, preserved in sugar, were exported to Holland and Java. The chief 

 product, however, of the Palmyra Tree " is the sweet sap which runs from the 

 peduncles cut before flowering and collected in bamboo tubes or earthen pots tied to 

 the cut peduncle," Brandis. Seemann says that in Ceylon the spathes are tied up from 

 end to end with thongs, and then beaten and crushed between wooden battens for three 

 successive mornings, that on each of the following four a thin slice is cut from the 

 points of the spathes, while on the eighth day the sweet, clear sap begins to exude, 

 and is caught in earthen pots or bamboos. The sap is fermented into toddy, is 

 distilled, or is made into sugar, known as ' jaggery.' The tree generally reaches 

 40 to 60, and occasionally 100, feet high, and often measures 18 to 24 inches in 

 diameter above the usually thick base. 



Ibs. 

 ...... 42 



...... 46 



...... 51 



63 

 25 

 49 

 31 

 72 

 65 



2. CORYPHA, Linn. 



Five species: C. Taliera, Roxb. PI. Ind. ii. 174; Brandis 549. Vern. Tara, taller, 

 tarit, Beng., is found in Bengal, as is also C. data, Roxb. Fl Ind. ii. 176 ; Brandis 

 549. Vern. Bajur, bajur-batul, Beng., a handsome palm, whose stem is marked with 

 spiral furrows. (7. Gebanga, Bl. ; Kurz ii. 525, the G-ebang palm of Java, is occa- 

 sionally found in Burma, e. g., round Tonghoo. C. macropoda, Kurz ii. 525. Vern. 

 Dondak, And. is a large stemless palm found in the bamboo jungles of the western 

 side of South Andaman. The Corypka palms flower but once, and then die. 



1. C, umbraculifera, Linn. ; Roxb. Fl. Ind. ii. 177; Brandis 54-9; 

 Kurz ii. 524. The Talipat Palm. Vern. Conda-pani, Tarn.; Bine, 

 Kan.; Tala, Cingh. ; Pe-beng, Burm. 



A tall tree, with terminal flowers, which dies after seeding. Wood 

 soft, with a hard rind composed of black vascular bundles. The vascu- 

 lar bundles in the centre of the stem are soft. 



Ceylon and the Malabar Coast. Cultivated in Bengal and Burma. 

 The tree often grows to a great size before flowering ; one whose measurements \\vre 

 given in the Indian Agriculturist for November 1878 as flowering at Peradeuiva, 



3 E 



