27 



habitations, and utensils of a large proportion of the human CASE 

 race. 2G. 



This large order is divided into six ti-ibes, as follows : — 

 Tribe I. Arece,^. In Case 26, arranged on the back and 

 on the shelves will be found spadices and fruits of the following 

 palms : Areca triandra, Roxb., from Buitenzorg and India. 

 Fruits of -^. yi/zc?«,r. Muell^ Queensland. Spadix and fruits 

 of Veitchiq^Joannis, Wendl., Fiji. Sheathing base from leaf of 

 Archontophosniv cunning hamiana, W. & D. (Seaforthia 

 elegans, ^00^.), Australia. Spadices of the Nikau palm of New 

 Zealand {Rhopalostylis sapida^ W. & D.), and of the Norfolk 

 Island palm {R. BaueH, Hook.). Fruits of Kentiopsis macro- 

 carpa, Brongu. and Gr., from New Caledonia, and of the 

 Umbrella Palm {Jledi/scepe canterbury ana, W. & D.), from 

 Lord Howe's Island. Also of Dictyosperma album, W. & D., 

 from Mauritius and Bourbon. Observe in Cases 21 and 22, in 

 Room 2 or Passage, a stem, leaf, samples of fibre and rope 

 made from the same of the Madagascar Pi ass aba Palm 

 {Dictyosperma jibrosum, C. H. Wright). (See Kew Bulletin, 

 1894, pp. 358, 359.) 



No. 49. Areca NtTs oi- Betel Nuts. The Seeds of TABLE 

 Areca Catechu, L. A tree 40 or 50 feet high, a native pro- CASE. 

 bably of the Malay Archipelago, where it is much cultivated, 

 as well as in the hotter parts of India, Ceylon, South China, the 

 Phihppine Islands, &c. The fruits, which vary in size and shape, 

 from that of a hen's egg to that of a walnut, are produced in 

 great abundance, each tree yielding annually about 300 fruits. 

 Areca or Betel nut seeds are usually about the size of a 

 nutmeg, and like it are ruminated with reddish brown irregu- 

 lar markings ; they are astringent, and have been used in 

 diarrhoea, as well as for the expulsion of tapeworm. The 

 principal use of the Betel nut, however, is as a masticatory. 

 For this purpose it is prepared in the East by boiling in water, 

 or it is used in a young and tender state by first cutting it into 

 small pieces, and rolling them up with a little lime in the leaf of 

 the Betel pepper, which is then chewed. It is regarded as a 

 preventive against dysentery, but its chief use is to give a 

 red hue to the h'ps and mouth, and a fragrance to the breath. 



The exhibits consist of whole and sliced seeds, raw and 

 roasted, prepared for chewing, from various parts of India ; also 

 Betel chewing apparatus from Perak, chalk or lime holder from 

 Timor Laut, instruments used in India for slicing Betel nuts, 



