PALM^:. 283 



it is extensively grown in Ceylon, and in all the coa-st couutrie.s of southern 

 Asia, especially in Farther India and southwestern China, and delights in a 

 sea exposure. 



Etyuiology. — Cocos, the generic name, is sup])Osed to be derived from the 

 l^ortuguese word coco, a monkey, due to the three spots on the end of the nut, 

 which make it resemble the face of that animal. It is also believed to come 

 from the Greek word kokkos, a fruit or berry. Nuc'ifera, the specific name, is 

 compounded of the two Latin words, nux, a nut, and fero, bear, and signifies 

 " nut-bearing." Cocoanut, the common name, is made up of coco and nut. 



Histori/. — It is on record that this fruit, if not the tree, was known to the 

 ancient Egyptians centuries before the beginning of the Christian era. 

 Columbus found it growing in Central America on his fourth voyage to the 

 New World. The Arabs were acciuaiuted with it, and their phvsicians wrote 

 of it during the Middle Ages. It has Indian, Arabic, Persian, and Malay 

 names, showing it to be native in those countries four thousand years ago. 

 The bulk of evidence is that the home of the cocoanut is the East Indian 

 Archipelago, whence it has sown itself, by means of the ocean currents, on the 

 coasts of eastern Africa and the far off shores of western America. The 

 character of its fruit is highly favorable to its distribution by sea ; and its 

 preference for the seacoast leads to the inference that it lias drifted across 

 the ocean and been thrown upon the isles and low shores, where it has become 

 naturalized, — the seed being covered by a strong shell, and the whole inclosed 

 in a light, porous husk, which is impervious to water, on account of a smooth, 

 glossy cuticle which envelops it. 



Use. — There is not another individual of the whole vegetable kingdom 

 which furnishes so many useful substances to man, no single tree of the vast 

 flora of the world is so completely utilized, as the cocoanut palm. Its products 

 are : sugar, milk, solid cream, wine, vinegar, oil, cordage, cloth, cups, timber 

 for building, and materials for implements of husbandry, furniture, baskets, 

 mats, and culinary utensils. The inhabitants of large districts subsist almost 

 exclusively upon its fruit alone. The shells are used for goblets, ornamented 

 with carving. 



In Ceylon a man's credit and commercial standing is measured by the num- 

 ber of cocoanut trees he has in his plantation. 



The fruit is largely used in America and Europe for the preparation of 

 dessert dishes, as pies, custards, cakes, and confections ; and the desiccating 

 of the cocoanut has become an important industry in the eastern United 

 States. The oil of the nut is treated to extract the stearine which is employed 

 for the manufacture of candles ; the more fluid parts are used for salad dress- 

 ings, for illuminating purposes, and for the manufacture of soap. Soap made 

 with this oil is so soluble as to make it capable of use in sea water. Among 

 fibrous plants the cocos holds high rank. The fiber of the husk (coir) is em- 

 ployed in the manufacture of floor cloths, door mats, strings, bags, brushes, 

 brooms, and many other articles for domestic use. It does not decay m 

 water. The leaves serve for thatch, and their strong midribs are divided into 

 splints, and woven into baskets. 



METROXYLON, Rottb. (Feather Palm.) Flowers polygamous. 

 Stamiiiatf Howcrs with funnel-shaped calyx, 3-toothed; corolla 

 3-parted, lapping each other; stamens G, inserted on the base of 

 the corolla ; filanu'uts united at tlie ba.^e ; anthers linear and dorsi- 



