18 THE PHYSIOGNOMY AND rHYSIOLOGY 



that quantity. The oil palm bears six hundred 

 to eight hundred fruits at once ; and in the 

 palm groves at Pihiguao, single trees annually 

 bear four hundred fruits of an apple shape. 

 Notwithstanding that the mass of fruit yielded 

 by single palms is so enormous, the number of 

 individuals of most species growing wild does 

 not appear to be very considerable, a fact which 

 may seem strange ; it is probably explainable 

 by the frequent abortive development of the 

 fruit, and the voracity of the enemies by whom 

 they are assailed. 



The palms belong to that class of plants 

 known to botanists under the terni Endogens, 

 It is one of the distinguishing properties of this 

 order that the plants comprised within it possess 

 no true pith. The centre of the stem is soft, 

 being composed principally of cellular tissue, 

 with the occasional occurrence of bxmdles of 

 woody fibre, which become more frequent as 

 they depart from the centre and approach the 

 circumference. This structure, Avhich is pe- 

 culiar to endogens, renders tlie trunks of such 

 trees incapable of expansion after they have 

 attained a certain size: for, in proportion as the 

 bundles of woody fibre accumulate at the cir- 

 cumference, they render it continually denser 

 and harder, till at length it becomes so closely 



