494 MESSRS. MANN AND WENDLAND ON THE 
From the above comparison it will be seen that L sperma agrees in habit with 
Ancistrophyllum, and Eremospatha with Oncocalamus; also that Ancistrophyllum and 
Eremospatha have something in common in their seeds, so much so that we at first doubted 
if they might not be brought together in one subdivision ; further investigation, however, 
convinced us that they were four well-marked subgenera, each of them having at least 
one well-defined character. Thus, Laccosperma is altogether distinct from <Ancistro- 
phyllum by the deep foveas in the seeds; and whilst Ancistrophyllum agrees with Eremo- . 
spatha in the form of its seeds, these differ in their attachment to the dissepiment, for in 
Ancistrophyllum the attachment is by the lower end of the seed, whilst in Hremospatha 
it is near the centre. Besides this, the spadices are in the former terminal and covered 
with imperfect sheaths, whilst in the latter they are lateral and without sheaths—a 
character which is peculiar to this subgenus. In the former there is a tripartite inner 
perianth and almost entirely free stamens, and in the latter a short tridentate inner 
perianth, and the stamens connected in a tube. As Hremospatha differs in its short . 
unsheathed spadix, so again we find in Oneocalamus the spadix with imperfect sheaths; 
also in Eremospatha and the two former subgenera (Ancistrophyllum and Laccosperma) 
always binate hermaphrodite flowers, whilst in Oncocalamus the flowers are glomerate 
11 or 9, 7 or 5, and monecious, the centre one only being female. 
These characters are confirmed by the agreement of the two species of Laccosperma 
and of the three species of Eremospatha ; whilst the other two plants must each be con- 
sidered as the type of a new subgenus. 
Throughout the tropics Palms are amongst the most useful plants to mankind ; this is 
more especially the case among people so little advanced in civilization as the natives of 
West Africa, who obtain from them the source of many of their comforts. 
Foremost among the useful palms of tropical Western Africa stands the Eleis 
Guineensis, Jacq. The oil of the mesocarp of the fruit of this palm constitutes in most 
parts the chief food of the natives, who hardly ever take a meal in which it is not used 
in some way or other. It is nutritious and of an agreeable flavour—so much so, indeed, 
that it generally becomes a favourite dish with Europeans. 
Besides being used as food, the natives also use it for oiling their bodies, partly to keep 
away insects, and partly as a substitute for clothing, of which they are entirely destitute. 
The Bubis or Boobees of the Island of Fernando Po make an excellent poultice of 17 
which they apply when the hand of any person, found guilty of adultery, has, in accord- 
ance with the usage of these people, been cut off. 
Among the more civilized natives it is used, as with us, in the manufacture of soap; 
and it is also employed for lighting their huts, but the oil extracted from the kernel of 
the nut is generally preferred for this purpose, 
The exportation of the seeds of this palm is rapidly increasing, and already large 
quantities are shipped from Sierra Leone and its neighbourhood. 
Were there less jealousy and more energy among the European traders, and could they 
induce or force the natives of the coast to give up their monopoly, much larger supplies 
could be obtained at the chief sources of the trade, as at Bonny, Brass, and Old Calabar | 
