COLA OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 127 



rapidly; its first appearance in Ceylon was in 1869, Southern 

 India 1869-70, Sumatra 1876, and in Java 1879. No cure has 

 yet been found for tliis formidable disease. 



Of late years a kind of Coffee has come into special notice 

 called Liberian Coffee, the produce of a tree native of Liberia 

 and West Africa ; it is a much stronger plant than the Coffea 

 arabica, and is considered to be a distinct species under the 

 name of Coffea liherica. Its berries are large, but do not contain 

 so much caffeine as the original species. 



Cohune Palm (Attalea Cohune), a wing-leaved palm similar 

 in appearance to the cocoa nut, but it does not attain such a 

 great height, and has a thicker stem. It is abundant in Hon- 

 duras and Darien. The fruit is produced in large bunches, each 

 fruit being about the size of a turkey's Qgg. The kernel of the 

 nut tastes like that of the cocoa nut, but contains more oil, which 

 is of a finer quality. It is obtained by crushing the nuts. This 

 palm may also be termed a wine palm, the trunk containing a 

 great quantity of liquor, which is obtained by cutting the tree 

 down and making a deep hole near the top, and by slightly 

 raising the butt-end the liquor flows into the hole, and is readily 

 obtained by slipping in a small vessel. This supply continues 

 a considerable time, and forms a cooling drink to passers-by. 



Cola Nut {^Cola acummata), a tree of the Sterculiad 

 family (Sterculiacese), native of Western tropical Africa. It 

 attains a height of 30 to 40 feet, having smooth, entire, 

 oblong, elliptical leaves, 6 to 8 inches in length. The fruit is 

 a follicle containing several nut-like seeds, which are called 

 Cola or Goora Nuts. Tliey form a considerable article of trade 

 amongst the negroes, by whom they are held in high estima- 

 tion, as they are supposed to give strength, allay thirst, promote 

 digestion, and stay hunger, possessing the same properties as the 

 Coca leaf of tropical America. The tree is now common in the 

 Y/est Indies and Brazil, having been early introduced during the 

 slave trade. Some degree of superstition is attached to it by the 

 negroes ; the fetishman or necromancer relies especially upon 

 feeding the spirits with Cola nuts to obtain for his votaries good 



