COCOA-NUT.-COCOS. 



Natural Order, Palmed ; in Botany, a Genus 

 of the Monacia Hexandria Class. 



THE cocoa-nut appears to have been known 

 to the ancient Greeks, as I find the Macedo- 

 nian soldiers, who accompanied Alexander 

 the Great in his expedition into India, met 

 with various Indian fruits, although they were 

 not able to give the names of them. This 

 nut was evidently one of the fruits they dis- 

 covered; and their account of it has been 

 faithfully transmitted to us in the twelfth book 

 of Pliny's Natural History, chap. 6. " The 

 fruit," he says, " is put forth at the bark, 

 having within it a wonderful pleasant juice, 

 and in such abundance, that one of them is 

 sufficient to afford a competent refection for 

 four men/' The Macedonians described the 

 leaves as being of great size, resembling birds' 

 wings. 



