21220 COCOA-NUT. CYPRESS. 



g in clusters of about a dozen each. You have often 

 seen the inner shells of these nuts, which consist 

 of a very hard case, containing a thick hollow 

 kernel of an agreeable flavour, and a sweet milky 

 liquor. The cases are employed with us for 

 making sugar bowls, and various toys, and are 

 very useful to the natives of the countries where 

 the tree grows. A sort of wine, called Toddy, is 

 made from the sap of the stem, which looks like 

 whey. 



EDWARD. 



You told me, yesterday, that the mat at the 

 green-house door was made of part of the cocoa- 

 nut. How can that be ? 



MOTHER. 



In their natural state, the inner shells, which 

 contain the kernel, are surrounded with a very 

 thick coating, of coarse fibres, with a smooth rind 

 on the outside. The fibrous part is employed 

 for making mats, a purpose which it answers 

 very well. The Indians make ropes of the bark 

 of the tree, and mats, baskets, and brooms, of the 

 leaves. 



The wood of the Cypress-tree, Cupres'sus sem- 

 pervi'rens, is said to resist worms and moths re- 

 markably, and to last for many centuries. Some 

 of the chests that contain the Egyptian mummies 

 are made of it; and the coffins in which the A the- 



