BOTANY. 



The cocoanut (Cocos nucifera Linn.) is the sole oriental representa- 

 tive of a tropical genus comprising nineteen species, restricted, with this 

 single exception, to the New World. 



Its geographical distribution is closely confined to the two Tropics. 1 



Not less than nineteen variesties of C. nucifera are described by 

 Miquel and Eumphius, and all are accepted by Filipino authors. 



Whether all of these varieties are constant enough to deserve recogni- 

 tion need not be considered here. Many are characterized by the fruits 

 being distinctly globular, others by fruits of a much prolonged oval 

 form, still others by having the the lower end of the fruit terminating 

 in a triangular point. 



In the Visayas there is a variety in which the fibrous outer husk of the 

 nut is sweet and watery, instead of dry and astringent, and is chewed 

 by the natives like sugar cane. Another variety occurs in Luzon, known 

 as "Pamocol," the fruit of which seldom exceeds 20 cm. in diameter. 

 There is also a dwarf variety of the palm, which rarely exceeds 3 meters 

 in height, and is known to the Tagalogs as "Adiavan." 



These different varieties are strongly marked, and maintain their 

 characters when reproduced from seed. 



USES. 



The cocoanut furnishes two distinct commercial products the dried 

 meat of the nut, or copra, and the outer fibrous husk. These products 

 are so dissimilar that they should be considered separately. 



COPRA AND COCOANUT OIL. 



Until very recent years the demand for the "meat" of the cocoanut or 

 its products was limited to the uses of soap boilers and confectioners. 

 Probably there is no other plant in the vegetable kingdom which serves 

 so many and so varied purposes in the domestic economy of the peoples 

 in whose countries it grows. Within the past decade chemical science 

 has produced from the cocoanut a series of food products whose manufac- 

 ture has revolutionized industry and placed the business of the manufac- 

 turer and of the producer upon a plane of prosperity never before 

 enjoyed. 



There has also been a great advance in the processes by which the new 

 oil derivatives are manufactured. The United States took the initiative 

 with the first recorded commercial factories in 1895. In 1897 the Ger- 

 mans established factories in Mannheim, but it remained for the French 

 people to bring the industry to its present perfection. 



1 The cocoanut palm has been reared as far north as Indian River, Florida, lati- 

 tude 28 N., but has not proven a profitable commercial venture. 



