Mr. G. Clark on the Cocoa-nut of the Seychelles Islands. 445 



shudder more than to see him seated on the leafstalk of a Coco- 

 de-Mer, at nearly 100 feet from rocky ground, rising and fall- 

 ing to the utmost extent the flexibility of the stalk allowed. He 

 never met with any accident. The leaflets are of a glossy dark 

 green on the upper side, and whitish green, slightly pubescent, 

 on the under. They form a sharp fold, and are adherent in the 

 greatest part of their length, the free ends growing longer as 

 they recede from the centre of the leaf. The number of leaflets 

 varies considerably ; some fronds have upwai-ds of ninety. Each 

 fold is strengthened by a strong rib or nerve. The texture of the 

 leaf is very strong, and of a complicated formation ; it consists of 

 three layers of fibres, enveloped in parenchyma. The two outer 

 layers are longitudinal, and the centre transverse, and the epi- 

 dermis itself is very strong. When the parenchyma and epidermis 

 have decayed, the exposed fibres present much the appearance of 

 coarse Scotch gauze. The leaf, previous to its unfolding, is 

 covered with a thick fawn-coloured down, of a cottony feel. 

 When the trees were numerous, this down was collected in suffi- 

 cient abundance to form the stuffing of mattresses and pillows 

 for the Praslinois. The most attentive observation leads to the 

 l)clief that one leaf is produced every year, and from the scars 

 left by their fall the age of the tree may be computed. 

 Reckoned by this standard, some of the trees must be nearly 

 four hundred years old. 



The male and female flowers are produced on separate trees. 

 The spadix which supports them springs from the same circle of 

 insertion as the leaf which accompanies it ; but, instead of rising 

 from the axil of the leaf, it passes through the fissure of the 



fetiolc. The spathe, in both, is composed of three fibrous 

 racts, fitting one into the other, and opening by a longitudinal 

 fissure on tlie outer side. The first bract, and generally the 

 second, are concave on that side which is against the tree. The 

 top of the first bract forms a sharpish edge; that of the second 

 is pointed, and remains fixed between the tree and the upper 

 part of the fissure of the petiole, thus supporting the weight of 

 the spathe, while the top of the third bract, which is also pointed, 

 is free. In the male flowers, the spathe is terminated by a 

 catkin of 2 or 3 inches in diameter, and sometimes nearly 4 feet 

 long, cylindrical, and rounded at the end. It is covered with 

 brown scales closely imbricated, but so sloped at the ends as to 

 allow the flowei-s to issue. These openings form symmetrical 

 spiral lines round the catkin. A transverse fracture of the latter 

 exhibits a series of reticulated tubercles, radiating from the axis 

 to the circumference. These tubercles, which are nearly the 

 shape of a Nautilus-shell, consist of an assemblage of about 

 twenty sessile blossoms iu various degrees of maturity, and form 



