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COCOA-NUT. COCOS. 



Natural order, Palmtz; a genus of the Moriacia 

 Hexandria class. 



" Give me to drain the Cocoa's milky bowl, 

 And from the palm to draw its freshening wine !" 



THE Cocoa-nut appears to have been known to the 

 ancient Greeks, as we find the Macedonian soldiers, who 

 accompanied Alexander the Great in his expedition into 

 India, met with various Indian fruits, amongst which, 

 although they were not able to give the names of them, 

 this nut was evidently one ; and their account of it has 

 been faithfully transmitted to us in the twelfth book ol 

 Pliny's Natural History, chap. 6. " The fruit," he says, 

 " is put forth at the bark, having within it an admirably 

 sweet juice, and in such abundance, that one of them is 

 sufficient to regale four men." The Macedonians described 

 the leaves as being of great size, resembling birds' wings. 



From this period, which was about 325 years befoi 

 Christ, little or nothing more was known of the cocoa- 

 nut by the Europeans, for more than 1800 years, whei 

 the discoveries of Columbus opening a wide field of spe 

 eulation for the naturalist as well as the trader, this fruil 

 became once more known to the Old World ; but it 

 only of late years that the cocoa-nut has been brought 



