313 



PHCENICIUCUS. 



PHCENIX. 



311 



them to salt meat. Sir Edward Parry remarks that the flesh was 

 found tolerably good, affording a variety amid the ordinary sea-fare. 

 But the tusks, the skin, and the oil, are the parts and products for 

 which the Walrus is more particularly hunted. The ivory of the 

 first is highly esteemed, and is used in Europe for artificial teeth. 

 The skins make excellent carriage-braces, and are very useful about 

 shipping, making very good wheel-rope.', &c. The oil is more valued 

 than that of the whale, though not more than 20 or 30 gallons are 

 afforded by one animal. 



It is not at all improbable that some of the stories of Mermen and 

 Mermaids have taken their origin from those who have seen walruses 

 or seals with their heads lifted out of the water. The former espe- 

 cially, in such a situation, bear a strong resemblance to the human 

 head before their tusks have grown, and when seen at some distance. 



Walrus (Trichtchtu Kotmaria}. (Bell.) 



The following u Dr. J. E. Gray's arrangement of the family 

 Plu>cidte in his ' Catalogue of Specimens of Mammalia in the British 

 Museum' : 



a. Menorifnchina. 

 1. Leptvnyx Wedddlii, the Sea-Leopard. 



4. Phocina. 



'2. Pkoi-it ritulina, the Seal. 

 8. P. Gromlandica, the Atak or Harp-Seal. 



c. Trichccina. 



4. Ilalichicrtit yryphu*, the Gray Seal. 



5. Trichechui Rotmarut, the Morse or \Valru?. 



d. Cyttophorina. 



6. Morunga probotcidea, the Sea-Elephant. 



e. Arctocepkalina. 

 1. Otaria jubala, the Sea-Lion. 

 8. Arctocepkaliu unintu, the Sea-Bear. 



1'rKENICIRCUS. 



PHCENICOI'HA'US. [CocnUD-K.] 



PH(ENICOPTERI'N;E. [DccK 



PHCENICOTTERUS. [DUCKS.] 



PHCENICO'RNIS. 



PH<ENICU'RA. 



PHCENISO'MA. 



PHfENIX, a genus of Palms, which hag been so named from one 

 of its species, the Date-Tree, having been called so by the Greeks : 

 tbi name is thought by some to be derived from Phoenicia, because 

 dates were procured from thence. The genus is common in India and 

 in the north of Africa, and one of the species grows in Arabia, the 

 lower parts of Persia, and along the Euphrates to Syria. The genus 

 is characterised by having flowers dioecious, sessile, in a branched 

 padix, supported by a simple spathe; calyx urceolate, 3-toothed; 

 corolla 3-petalled ; stamens 3 or 6 ; filaments very short, almost 

 wanting; anthers linear; (female) calyx urceolate, 3-toothed ; corolla 

 3-petalleH, with the petals convolute ; pistil with three ovaries, distinct 

 from each other, of which one only ripens ; stigmas hooked ; drupe 

 1-seeHed; seeds marked on one side with a longitudinal furrow; 

 albumen reticulate ; embryo in the back of the seed ; palms with 

 stems of a moderate height and ringed, or marked with the seams of 

 the fallen leaves ; fronds or leaves pinnate ; pinnae or leaflets linear, 

 with the spadix bursting among the leaves, surrounded with an almost 

 woody 2-edged sheath ; flowers yellowish-white ; fruit soft, edible, of 

 a reddish-yellow colour. 



P. daclylifcm, the Date-Tree, or Date-palm, is one of the best 

 known and probably the earliest known of the palms, and though 

 belonging to a family which abounds and flourishes most in tropical 

 regions, itself attains perfection only in comparatively hi);h latitudes. 

 It is no doubt the species to which the name Pultun was originally 

 applied, as we may infer from its being common in Syria, Arabia, the 



lower parts of Persia, as well as Egypt and the north of Africa, 

 whence it has been introduced into the south of Europe, and cultivated 

 in a few places, not only as a curiosity, but on account of its leaves, 

 which are sold twice in the year, in spring for Palm Sunday, and in 

 September for the Jewish Passover ; and also, from the name not 

 being applicable to the other species known to the ancients, as it is 

 considered that the bunches of dates were likened to the fingers of the 

 hand, as appears from the present specific name, dactylifera, from the 

 Greek Sdinv\os, a finger. It is the Palm-Tree of Scripture, and was 

 emblematic of Judaea, as we see in coins with the iuscription of 

 Judaa capta. It is found in oases in the desert, and round Palmyra, 

 which is supposed to have been named from its presence. This 

 appears indeed to be only a translation of the Oriental name, which 

 is Tadmor, supposed to be a corruption of Tamar (from ' Tamr," a 

 Date), a city built in the desert by Solomon. The Date-Tree is there- 

 fore a subject of classical aa well as of scriptural interest, besides ita 

 fruit forming a large portion of the food of a great part of the Arab 

 race, and also a considerable article of commerce. 



The Date-Palm being dioecious, that is, the stamens and pistils, or 

 the male and female parts being not only in different flowers, but even 

 on different plants, the crops entirely fail, or the fruit is worthless 

 and unfit for food, if fertilisation is in any way prevented. To ensure 

 this, the Arabs have long been in the habit of hanging the clusters of 

 male flowers on the trees which bear only female ones, and therefore 

 the Date-Tree is one of those which led to a knowledge of the sexes 

 of plants. 



The extensive importance of the Date-Tree is, gays Dr. Clarke, one 

 of the most curious subjects to which a traveller can direct his atten- 

 tion. A considerable part of the inhabitants of Egypt, Arabia, and 

 Persia subsist almost eutirely on its fruit. They make a conserve of 

 it with sugar, and even grind the hard stones in their hand-mills for 

 their camels. In Barbary they form handsome beads for paternosters 

 of these stones. From the leaves they make couches, baskets, bags, 

 mats, brushes, and fly-traps ; the trunk is split and used in small 

 buildings, also for fences to gardens, and the stalks of the leaves for 

 making cages for their poultry. The threads of the web-like integu- 

 ment at the bases of the leaves are twisted into ropes, which are 

 employed in rigging small vessels. The sap is obtained by cutting off 

 the head of the palm and scooping out a hollow in the top of the 

 stem, where, in ascending, it lodges itself. Three or four quarts of 

 gap may be obtained daily from a single palm, for ten days or a fort- 

 night, after which the quantity lessens, until, at the end of six weeks 

 or two months, the stem is exhausted, becomes dry, and is used for 

 firewood. This liquor is sweetish when first collected, and may be 

 drunk aa a mild beverage, but fermentation soon takes place, and a 

 spirit is produced, which is distilled, and forms one of the kinds of 

 aruk (arrack), or spirit of eastern countries. Such being the import- 

 ance and multiplied uses of the Date-Tree, it is not surprising that 

 in an arid and barren country it should form so prominent a subject 

 of allusion and description in the works of Arab authors, and that it 

 should be said to have 300 names in their language. Many of these 

 are however applied to different parts of the plant, as well as to these 

 at different ages. 



P. tylvtitrit is a species common in the arid parts of India, and 

 there commonly called Khujjoor by the natives, aud the Date-Trje 

 by Europeans, which it resembles in appearance. In its parts of 

 fructification it is like the following species, but differs in growing to 

 be a tree, with a tall pretty thick trunk and large yellowish or reddish 

 fruit. It yields Tarri, or palm wine, commonly called Toddy. The 

 mode of obtaining this is by removing the lower leaves and their 

 sheaths, and cutting a notch into the centre of the tree near the top, 

 from wbich the liquor issues, and is conducted by a small channel, 

 made by a bit of the palmyra-tree leaf, into a pot suspended to receive 

 it. This juice is either drank fresh from the tree, or boiled down 

 into sugar, or fermented for distillation, when it gives out a large 

 portion of spirit, often called Paria Aruk. Mats and baskets are made 

 of the leaves. 



Sugar has always been made from this species, and accounts of it 

 have been given by Drs. Roxburgh and Buchanan Hamilton. Date- 

 sugar is not so much esteemed in India as that of the cane, aud sells 

 for about one-fourth less. It has sometimes been imported in con- 

 siderable quantities into this country, but is not distinguished from the 

 cane sugar. Dr. Roxburgh calculated, 40 years ago, that about 

 100,000 Ibs. were made aunually in all Bengal. At the age of 7 or 10 

 years, when the trunk of the tree is about 4 feet high, it begins to 

 yield juice, and continues productive for 20 or 25 years. The juice 

 is extracted during the months of November, December, January, and 

 February, during which period each tree is reckoned to yield from 

 120 to 240 pints of juice, averaging 180 pints. Every 12 pints, or 

 pounds, is boiled down to one of goor, or jagari, and four of goor 

 yield one of good sugar in powder, so that the average produce of each 

 tree is about 7 or 8 Ibs. of sugar annually. 



P. farinifera is a dwarf species of this genus, which is a native of 

 dry ground or sandy hills, not far from the sea on the Coromandel 

 (Joa.it. It flowers in January and February, and the fruit ripens in 

 May. The leaflets are wrought into mats for sleeping on, aud the 

 common petioles are split into three or four, aud are used for making 

 baskets. The small trunk is generally about 15 or 18 inches long, 



