COCOA-NUTS. 223 



a hundred feet, and measuring from one to two feet in 

 diameter, while along its whole length, at regular inter- 

 vals, are well-marked parallel rings, the cicatrices of 

 fallen leaves ; by these rings the age of the tree is readily 

 ascertained. 



Should its growth be retarded for one or two years, as 

 sometimes chances in unskillful transplanting, the stem ex- 

 presses its disapprobation by a permanent contraction in 

 diameter, so that the trunk has often a larger dimension 

 at the base and summit than at the middle. 



In the interior arrangements of their stems the palms 

 bear no resemblance to other trees ; this one difference suf- 

 ficing to distinguish them at once as belonging to an en- 

 tirely distinct family, forming in fact the ultra-aristocracy 

 of the tropics. 



Examine the stem of a white lily and you will find that 

 it is really a series of leaves, rising one above another, and 

 united at their bases so as to form an apparent stem. 

 Greatly resembling this growth is that of the palm ; it 

 possesses no bark, the surface appearing to be formed of 

 the cicatrices which succeed the fall of the leaves and 

 become gradually hardened by the action of the sun and 

 the air. 



The wood of the cocoa-nut improves with the age of the 

 tree ; soft when young, it yearly increases in density until 

 finally it acquires an extreme hardness, and is consequently 

 highly valued. 



In the Maldive and Laccadive Islands, boats are made 

 from the hollowed stem, and planked with wood from the 

 same tree. The Polynesians it furnishes with their most 

 valued spears, and the Puris Indians, of Brazil, manufac- 

 ture from it their best bows. 



Many of our readers are doubtless familiar with the 

 wood of the cocoa-nut palm, although ignorant of its iden- 



