MISCELLANEOUS NUTS. 255 



of the household. They were used and are still, in 

 some countries boiled, roasted, and even ground and 

 made into bread and cakes. They have also been used 

 as a substitute for coffee, and for malt in making beer. 

 Strabo says that in the mountains of Spain the inhab- 

 itants ground their acorns into meal, and Pliny affirms 

 that in his time acorns were brought to the table with 

 the dessert, in Spain. Every student of English history 

 is well aware of the importance of the acorn, not only 

 as food for man, in Great Britain, in the time of the 

 Druids, and later, but also for feeding swine, deer, and 

 other wild and domesticated animals. But with the 

 advance of civilization and the production of better 

 food, the oak nut ceased to be classed among the impor- 

 tant culinary supplies. There are, however, a few spe- 

 cies of the oak yielding nuts fairly edible in their raw 

 state, and these are much improved by roasting. The 

 best of those among our native species are to be found 

 in the varieties of the white oaks of the North, and in 

 the evergreen (Quercus virens) of the Southern States. 

 But with so many far superior species of edible nuts, it 

 is very doubtful if any of the oaks will ever be cultivated 

 for their fruit. 



AUSTRALIAN CHESTNUT. The seeds of a large tree, 

 native of Australia, the Castanospermum australe, the 

 name of the genus being derived from Kastanon, chest- 

 nut, and sperma, a seed, because the seeds resemble, in 

 size and taste, the common chestnut. But the tree 

 belongs to the bean family (Leguminosece), and the seeds 

 are produced in large, long pods. They are about an 

 inch and a half broad, somewhat flattened, and of the 

 color of a chestnut when ripe. They are roasted and 

 eaten by the natives, bat are rather unpalatable to those 

 who have been accustomed to something better in the 

 way of edible nuts. These seeds are also known as 

 "Moreton Bay chestnuts." 



