154 BOTANY OF INDIA. 



cloth. The terminal bud is accounted a delicacy for the 

 table. The leaves are employed for thatchmg buildings, for 

 makin<r baskets, fences, and torches, besides furnishing the 

 chief diet in Ceylon of the tame elephants : in a young 

 state thev are transparent, and are made into lanterns by 

 the Cevlonese. The woody ribs of the leaflets are formed 

 into a 'kind of basket-work for catching fish, and into the 

 brushes and brooms used for domestic purposes. Good pot- 

 ash is yielded by the ashes, and the latter is used instead of 

 soap by the native washermen of Ceylon. From the unex- 

 panded flower is procured the sweet jmce, which is con- 

 verted into a pleasant wine celebrated by one of our poets :— 



" Stretch'd amid these orchards of the sun, 

 Where high palmettoes lift their grateful shade 

 Give me to drain tlie cocoa's milky bowl, 

 \nd from the palm to drawr its freshening wme ; 

 More bounteous far than all the frantic jmce 

 Which Bacclius pours." 



The same fluid is unfortunately distilled into arrack; and 

 frantic indeed and melancholy are the efl-ects whicli spring 

 from the intoxicating draught, from whatever source it be 

 obtained ! Even the juice of this fertile tree the wayward 

 ineenuity of man has converted from a blessmg into a curse. 

 The spirit is manufactured in such large quantities in Oey- 

 lon that it is sold for a trifle, and is productive of all the 

 unhappy consequences which invariably Ibllow its use as a 

 common beverage. From palm-juice is hkewise prepared 

 in <rreat abundance a coarse kind of sugar called jaggeri^. 

 The value of the fruit of this tree, the well-known cocoa- 

 nut, can only be fully appreciated in the countries that pro- 

 duce it. As an article of food it is inestimable. The fibrous 

 coverino- is an admirable substitute for hemp, and is largely 

 manufactured into coir,— a. substance peculiarly well adapted 

 for the cordage of vessels. When the Dutch were m pos- 

 session of Ceylon, they made annually, according to Mr. 

 Marshall, 3,000,000 lbs. weight of coir. A vast quantity 

 of oil is expressed from the kernel, the excellent quality and 

 commercial value of which are known to every one. 



GR AMINES. 



It is in tropical countries that the tribe of grasses attains 



