Cultivated Elementary Species 83 



when it resembles agate. Finally the un- 

 expanded terminal bud is a delicate article of 

 food. Many other uses could be mentioned, but 

 these may suffice to indicate how closely the life 

 of the inhabitants is bound up with the culture 

 of this palm, and how sharply, in consequence, 

 its qualities must have been watched by early 

 man. Any divergence from the ordinary type 

 must have been noted; those which were in- 

 jurious must have been rejected, but the useful 

 ones must have been appreciated and propa- 

 gated. In a word any degree of variability 

 afforded by nature must have been noticed and 

 cultivated. 



More than fifty different sorts of the coco- 

 nut are described from the Indian shores and 

 islands, with distinct local and botanical names. 

 Miquel, who was one of the best systematists of 

 tropical plants, of the last century, described a 

 large number of them, and since, more have 

 been added. Nearly all useful qualities vary in 

 a higher or lesser degree in the different varie- 

 ties. The fibrous strands of the rind of the 

 nut are developed in some forms to such a 

 length and strength as to yield the industrial 

 product known as the coir-fibre. Only three of 

 them are mentioned by Miquel that have 

 this quality, the Cocos nucifera rutila, cupnli- 

 formis and stupposa. Among them the rutila 



