124 THE PALMS OF ASIA. 



becoming toothless, they are reduced to the 

 necessity of having the ingredients previously 

 reduced to a paste for them, that without further 

 effort the betel may dissolve in the mouth. 

 The areca nuts are also used in some parts 

 of India for dyeing cotton cloth. The leaf 

 stalks, spathes, and timber, are employed for 

 many domestic purposes, as in others of the 

 tribe ; and in Llalabar an inebriating lozenge 

 is prepared from the sap. 



Cat'Tjota urens, called nihung by the natives, 

 is another of the Asiatic palms, and is widely 

 difl\ised over the tropical portions of that 

 continent, especially in mountainous situations, 

 where, according to Dr. Roxburgh, it grows to 

 be one of the largest of the tribe. Its trunk is 

 ordinarily sixty feet high, and thick in propor- 

 tion, and slightly marked with aumilar scars, 

 produced by the full of its leaves. The wood 

 is so hard as to be cut with considei-able diffi- 

 culty, and is consequently valuable, provided 

 the soft central portion of the stem is removed. 

 The fruit is about the size of a plum, and has 

 a thin yellow rind, so acrid that it produces a 

 severe sensation of burning if applied to the 

 skin ; hence its name, "we?!5." It is generally 

 stated, apparently upon the authority of Rum- 

 phius, that this noble tree yields no sap fit for 



