THE COCOA-NUT. 395 



of the tree, which they keep plugged up, unless when 

 they are about to collect the sap. When put in ves- 

 sels, and kept out of the sun, the toddy undergoes 

 the vinous fermentation, and is fit for distilling; but 

 if it be exposed to the sun, it undergoes the acetous 

 fermentation, and is changed into vinegar. 



The cocoa-palm generally reaches the age of from 

 eighty to a hundred years; and its average height is 

 about eighty feet. Its growth is thus more rapid 

 than the other palms. 



The other species of cocoa are not so valuable. 

 Cocos butyracea is very mucilaginous, and also very 

 oily. The pulp of the nuts is used for fatting hogs; 

 and the natives of South America make a sort of 

 butter from it. The Guinea cocoa-nut (Cocos glii- 

 niensis} is much smaller than the others, the trunk not 

 being above one inch in diameter, and twelve feet 

 high. It is tough and hard, and covered with 

 prickles; when cleared of the bark it is made intJ 

 walking-sticks, which are black, strong, light, and 

 take a fine polish. It grows abundantly in the island 

 of Tobago, after which island the sticks used to be 

 named in France. The fruit is about the size of a 

 cherry: it may be eaten, but it is very acid, and not 

 pleasant; though the wild hogs in Jamaica devour 

 it greedily. In some parts of America a sort of wine 

 is made from it. It is found most plentifully in the 

 northern parts of Colombia. The great maccaw- 

 tree ( Cocos aculeata) grows abundantly in the West 

 India islands. It is a large palm, the trunk being 

 from a foot to a foot and a half in diameter, and 

 rising to the height of about thirty feet. The fruit is 

 small, of a globular form, but a little flattened, and 

 not more than an inch in diameter. The pulp that 

 surrounds the nut has an astringent taste, but the 

 kernel is pleasant. The Cocos nypa is thick, but 

 very low; and in its fruit resembles the cocoa-nut, 



