148 TUE TROPICAL WORLD. 



(elain) fat, it congeals at a temperature of 72° ; but both its 

 component substances acquire additional value after having 

 been separated by means of the hydraulic press ; for while the 

 liquid part furnishes an excellent lamp-oil, the solid fat is 

 manufactured into candles rivalling wax, and at the same time 

 not much dearer than tallow. 



This important product first became known in the European 

 markets at the beginning of the present century, and is now a 

 considerable article of commerce, so that, to meet the con- 

 stantly increasing demand, new plantations are continually 

 forming on the coasts of Ceylon, Java, and other islands of the 

 Indian Ocean. 



The iibrous rind or husk of the nut furnishes coir, a scarcely 

 less important article of trade than the oil itself. It is pre- 

 pared by being soaked for some months in water, for the 

 purpose of decomposing the interstitial pith, after which it is 

 beaten to pieces until the fibres have completely separated, and 

 ultimately dried in the sun. Ropes made of coir, though not 

 so neat in appearance as hempen cords, are superior in light- 

 ness, and exceed them in durability, particularly if wetted 

 frequently by salt water. From their elasticity and strength 

 they are exceedingly valuable for cables. Besides cordage of 

 every calibre, beds, cushions, carpets, brushes, and nets are 

 manufactured from the filaments of the cocoa-nut husk, while 

 the hard shell is fashioned into drinking-cups, spoons, beads, 

 bottles, and knife-handles. From the spathes of the unopened 

 flowers a delicious ' toddy ' is drawn, which, drunk at sunrise 

 before fermentation has taken place, acts as a cooling gentle 

 aperient, but in a few hours changes into an intoxicating wine, 

 and may either be distilled into arrack — the only pernicious 

 purpose to which the gifts of the bounteous tree are perverted 

 — or soured into vinegar, or inspissated by boiling into sugar. 



The strong tough foot-stalks of the fronds, which attain a 

 length of from eighteen to twenty feet, are used for fences, for 

 3^okes, for carrying burthens on the shoulders, for fishing-rods ; 

 the leaflets serve for roofing, for mats, for baskets, for cattle- 

 fodder ; and their midribs form good brooms for the decks of 

 ships. Cooked or stewed, the cabbage or cluster of unexpanded 

 leaves is an excellent vegetable, though rarely used, as it 

 necessarily involves the destruction of the tree ; and even the 



