820 XXIII. PAL1VLE. 



and all the species of Aftalea. A sort of cabbage is also obtained from Chamarops humilis. Elaeih 

 guineensis, a large monoecious Palm of West Africa, which is cultivated in America, bears a drupe, the 

 sarcocarp of which contains a yellow scented oil, called Palm Oil, used in Africa and Guiana as olive oil; 

 the kernel also yields a white solid oil, used as butter : this latter, much less abundant than the other, is 

 not imported into Europe ; but the first, which always remains liquid in the tropics, is imported into 

 France and England, where it arrives congealed, and is used in making soap [and candles]. Ceroxylon 

 andicola, a magnificent species growing in Peru, and Corypha cerifera, named in Brazil Cantmiba, produce 

 n true wax, which exudes from the leaves, and especially from the trunk, at the rings. The Double Cocoa- 

 nut (Lodoicea sechellarum) is a very tall tree [confined to the Seychelles Islands], the enormous 2-lobed 

 fruit of which was formerly in great repute as a universal antidote ; it is now only an object of curiosity. 



Areca Catechu, a large Palm of India, Ceylon and the Moluccas, produces the Areca-nut, from the 

 seed of which is prepared a much esteemed astringent juice, which is chewed, mixed with quicklime and 

 the leaves of Betel Pepper, by the inhabitants of tropical Asia (see p. 731). 



From the leaves of all Palms are made more or less coarse hats, for which the young leaves are used, 

 being carefully cut before they unfold, and while still whitish and supple ; the leaves of Corypha are preferred 

 for this purpose. The fibrous husk of the Cocoa-nut is used for making cords; and the other parts of 

 several Palms also yield fibres with which cordage is manufactured. The Piasaba 1 is the most important 

 for ships' cables, as it does not decay in water ; mattresses, brushes and brooms are also made of it. The 

 species which produce the Piacaba are Leopoldinia Pia^aba and Attalea fmufera. In Brazil they obtain 

 from the leaves of several species of Bactris, especially S. setosa, a textile matter named tecun, finer and 

 more tenacious than hemp, of which fine hammocks and fishing-nets are made. M. Marius Porte, in a 

 notice of the uses of some Palms, tells us that this thread is not used for garments, on account of a sort 

 of rasping property, which causes it to cut like a file or sandpaper, excoriating the skin, and if worn with 

 other clothes quickly rubbing them to pieces. With a thread of tecun and patienco, says M. Porte, a 

 bar of iron may be cut. 



The Rattans (Calamuii), or Cane Palms, have a very slender stem, scarcely as thick as the thumb; 

 this stem, in some species, climbs up trees, sometimes attaining a length of 12,000 to 18,000 feet 2 (Rum- 

 phia, vol. ii. p. 158). The flexible stems are sent to Europe, where they are used for various light and 

 solid articles, trellised furniture, switches, canes (known as Dutch canes), &c. The fruit of Calamus Draco 

 is impregnated with a red astringent resin named Dragon's Blood, much more used by druggists than the 

 Dragon's Blood of the Pterocarptis or the Dracaena. The roots of Sabal Palmetto are very rich in tannin. 



The sap of Corypha umbraciilifera and sylvcstri*, Asiatic species, is an emetic, and considered an 

 alexipharmic. Hyphcene cucifera, an Egyptian Palm, remarkable for the dichotomy of its stem, yields a 

 gum-resin (Egyptian bdellium), formerly classed among diuretics, and the sarcocarp of its fruit tastes like 

 gingerbread. 



This elegant family forms the principal ornament of our southern gardens, and with care 

 some species may even be grown in the climate of Paris. The Dwarf or Fan Palm (Chamtfropa 

 hnmilia), mentioned above, is a small polygamous tree, stemless or caulescent, abundantly spread over 

 Sicily, Italy, Spain, and Algeria, and which lives in the open air in south-eastern France. The Chusan 

 Palm ( Trachycarpus or Chamcerops excelxa), a dioecious tree a foot to 18 inches high, is less picturesque; 

 but hardier than the preceding ; its trunk is furnished with a sort of tow or hair, resulting from the de- 

 composed bases of the petioles ; this tow, used by the Chinese in the manufacture of cordage and of coarse 

 stuffs, forms a natural clothing to this Palm-tree, and protects it so much from the cold as to enable it to 

 etand the winter in the gardens of Provence and Languedoc, as well as on the coast from Bordeaux to 

 Cherbourg, and even in the Isle of Wight. 



Some North American dwarf Palms are also cultivated ; the best known is the Sabal Adansonii, a 

 stemless species, hardy in the south of France. Another, and a greatly preferable one, and equally 

 hardy, is the Chamai-ops Hystrix, a caulescent species, of which the stem, bristling with sharp points, 

 rarely attains the height of three feet. The species first introduced into Europe, probably by the Arabs, 

 is the Date, the tree of the African oases, without which the Sahara would be uninhabitable. It wast 



1 Coci, or Cocoa-nut fibre, is probably here referred not an uncommon length in Ceylon and the Malay 

 to. ED. islands. ED. 



* This has not been verified. Three hundred feet is 



