61- THE PALMS OF EUROPE AND AFIUCA. 



flesh, in ihe centre of wliich is a very small hard 

 nut, and it has a strong odour of violets. The 

 fruits are very numerous, six hundred or eight 

 hundred in numbi^r, and are densely crowded 

 upon the upright spadixes; and the brilliant red 

 colour of these huge masses of fruit, contrasted 

 ■with the bright green of the towering and 

 graceful leaves, and these surmounting the verj' 

 singular and formidably armed stem, together 

 form one of the most curious, yet beautiful ob- 

 jects in the vegetable creation. The great value 

 of this palm lies in its fruit, from which is 

 extracted an oil, now becoming an important 

 article of commerce, under the name of " palm 

 oil." It is obtained from the fleshy part of the 

 fruits, which for this purpose are exposed for 

 some days to the sun ; they are then bruised, 

 and the crushed paste is subjected to boiling 

 water in wooden mortars, and afterwards tightly 

 pressed through cloth, when a large quantity 

 of a limpid, clear, orange yellow oil separates, 

 which has scarcely any taste, but exhales a 

 powerful odour of violets, and hardens, when cool, 

 to the consistence of butter. It is used by the 

 native Africans universally for anointing the body, 

 and also for the same purposes as butter with 

 us. It is likewise much esteemed for j)revent- 

 jng the attacks of the chigoe, {Pulex pcnelrans,) 



