THE COCOA-NUT. 
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HE fruit of the cocoa-nut palm, 
(Cocos nucifera), which is the 
most useful tree of all its tribe 
to the natives of the regions 
in which it grows, is one of the most 
valuable and important of commercial 
products. On the Malabar and Corvo- 
mandel coasts of India the trees grow 
in vast numbers; and in Ceylon, which is 
peculiarly well situated for their culti- 
vation, it is estimated that twenty mil- 
lions of the trees flourish. The wealth 
of a native in Ceylon is estimated by 
his property in cocoa-nut trees, and Sir 
Emerson Tennent notes a law case in a 
district court in which the subject in 
dispute was a claim of the twenty-fifth 
twentieth part of anacre of palms. The 
tree is very beautiful and lofty, grow- 
ing to a height of from sixty to one 
hundred feet, with a cylindrical stem 
which attains a thickness of two feet. 
It terminates in a crown of graceful | 
leaves. The leaf sometimes attains a 
length of twenty feet, consists of a 
strong mid-rib, whence numerous long, 
acute leaflets spring, giving the whole, 
as one traveler described it, theappear- 
ance of a gigantic feather. The fruit 
consists of a thick external husk orrind 
of a fibrous structure, within which is 
the ordinary cocoa-nut of commerce. 
The nut has a very hard, woody shell, 
inclosing the kernel, within which again 
is a milky substance of a rather agree- 
able taste. 
The cocoa-nut palm is so widely dis- 
seminated throughout tropical coun- 
tries that it is impossible to distinguish 
its original habitat. It flourishes with 
equal vigor on the coast of the East 
Indies, throughout the tropical islands 
of the Pacific, and in the West Indies 
and tropical America. It is most at 
home, however, in the numerous small 
islands of the Pacific Ocean. 
dissemination is accounted for by the 
shape of the fruit, which, dropping into 
the sea from trees growing along the | 
shores, would be carried by the tides 
Its wide | 
95 
and currents to be cast up and to vege- 
tate on distant coasts. 
The uses to which the various parts 
of the cocoa-nut tree are applied in the 
regions of their growth are almost end- 
less. The nuts supply a considerable 
proportion of the food of the people, 
and the liquor enclosed within them 
forms a pleasant and refreshing drink. 
The liquid may also be boiled down to 
sugar. When distilled it yields a spirit 
which is known as “arrack.”’ The trunk 
yields a timber which is known in com- 
merce as porcupine wood, and is used 
for building, furniture, and firewood; 
the leaves are plaited into fans and 
baskets, and for thatching roofs of 
houses; the shell of the nut is employed 
as a water vessel, and the outer husk or 
rind yields the fiber which is used for 
the manufacture of ropes, brushes, cord- 
age and the like. Cocoa-nut-oil is an 
important article of commerce. It is 
obtained by pressing or boiling the 
kernels, which are first broken up into 
small pieces and dried in the sun. It is 
estimated that one thousand full-sized 
nuts will produce upwards of twenty-five 
gallons ofoil. The oil is a white, solid 
substance at ordinary temperature, with 
a peculiar rather disagreeable odor. Un- 
der pressure it spreads into a liquid and 
a solid, the latter being extensively used 
in the manufacture of candles. 
Within late years the oil has also 
been manufactured into cocoa-nut but- 
ter, retaining, however, in a greater or 
less degree a distinct flavor of the nut. 
The monkeys and orang-outangs are 
very expert in destroying the tough 
outer covering of the cocoa-nut, though 
quite two inches thick. They insert their 
teeth into the tapering end of the nut, 
where the shell is very uneven, hold it 
firmly with the right foot, and with the 
left tear the covering to pieces. Then 
thrusting a finger into one of the na- 
tural apertures they pierce a hole, drink 
the milk, break the shell on some hard 
object and eat the kernel. 
