ARAB USES OF THE DATE 193 



and simmer until they become a paste, then knead it up 

 and boil it. The paste must be well salted, and not 

 allowed to cool off at any time while it is being cooked. 

 When the mass has become absolutely soft, which 

 will require several days of simmering, work it up in 

 fresh water to eliminate the vinegar and salt, then dry 

 the paste, grind it into flour, and make pancakes of it. 



More frequently, however, the seeds are used for 

 animal fodder, either soaked or not. In many parts 

 of the Persian Gulf region the standard ration for milk 

 cows consists of date seeds and fish heads. In India 

 half a century ago a company was organized which 

 manufactured a palatable coffee substitute from date 

 seeds, but it seems never to have met with popular 

 favor. 



The spathe of the palm (usually the male) is 

 sometimes cut before it has opened, and ground up 

 to make bread, while the male blossoms, when fully 

 formed but before the spathe has opened, are a 

 delicacy in all parts of the orient, either raw or as 

 salad with lemon juice. They are supposed to have 

 an aphrodisiacal quality. Sometimes they are boiled 

 with lemon rind. In times of scarcity even the 

 younger leaves of the palm are boiled for a salad, while 

 the terminal bud is always a delicacy, raw, boiled, or 

 ground into a meal. 



The medicinal uses of the date would fill a book, 

 for the empiricists of the Arab profession can see 

 medicinal qualities in anything. This use of dates goes 

 back to prehistoric times: two thousand years ago 

 Pliny could speak* of their employment by "the 

 ancients" to recruit the strength and allay the thirst 

 of a patient. The authorities differ considerably 



*Hist. Nat., Book XXII, ch. 51. 



