THE PALMS OP ASIA. 7S 



CHAPTER IV. 



THE PALMS OF ASIA. 



From Europe aud Africa we turn to the eastern 

 palm world, and here we find a much more 

 extensive field for observation and inquiry. 

 From one hundred to two hundred species of 

 palms are known to inhabit this continent, 

 many of Avhich are eminently useful to man ; 

 and doubtless many more remain to be disco- 

 vered, and many, even among those already 

 known, may be found to possess important 

 economical uses, of which at present we are 

 ignorant. 



First and foremost among the Asiatic palms 

 stands the cocoa nut, {Cocos nucifera,) " the 

 palm of palms " as it has sometimes been 

 termed, aud often selected as a typo of the 

 useful endowments of the order. That learned 

 traveller was right who said that it seemed as 

 if nature had epitomized in the cocoa nut the 

 whole of the invaluable properties she had 

 diffused among the family of palm trees. The 



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