'SM JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL KIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV.. 



tender ; the liiTsks or the outer pod is removed ; the kernel, a rouniJ 

 flesh}^ mass, is boiled in water : in the first boiling of the nut, when 

 properly done, the water becomes red, thick, and starch-like, and 

 this is afterwards evaporated into a substance like catechu. The- 

 boiled nuts being now removed, sliced, and dried, the catechu-like 

 substance is rubbed to the same and dried again in the sun, when 

 they become of a shining black, ready for use. Whole nuts,, without 

 being sliced, are also prepared in the same form for use amongst the 

 higher classes, while ripe nuts as well as j^oung nuts in a raw state^ 

 are used by all classes of people general^ ; and ripe nuts preserved 

 in water with the pod are also used." 



Heyne describes the mode of extracting the catechu from the nuts. 

 in Mysore in the following way : " The nuts are taken as they come 

 from the tree, and boiled for some hours in an iron vessel. Thej^ 

 are then taken out, and the remaining water is inspissated by con- 

 tinual boiling. This process furnishes kossa, or most astringent 

 terra japonica, which is black, and mixed with paddy-husks and 

 other impurities. After the nuts are dried they are put into a fresh 

 quantity of water and boiled again, and this water being inspissated 

 like the former, yields the best or dearest kind of catechu, called 

 Coony. It is jT^ellowish brown, has an earthy fracture, and is free 

 from the admixture of foreign bodies." On account of the large 

 quantity of tannin which these nuts contain, thej have been 

 employed in some parts of India for dyeing cotton clothes. In 

 Malabar an inebriating lozenge is prepared from the sap of the tree, 

 and in Khasia according to J. D. Hooker's statement, the natives 

 measure distances b}'- the number of mouthfuls of betel-nut 

 chewed on the road. It seems that the poorer classes use various 

 substitutes for the betel-nut, e.g., the seeds of Calamus erectus 

 Roxb. 



In Guam betel chewing is a matter of etiquette at all wedding-^ 

 assemblies, fandangos, and funerals. Nuts deprived of their fibrous- 

 envelopes, fresh pepper leaves and quicklime, together with cigars,, 

 are passed around to the assembled guests. 



According to Jahns, arecaine, the active principle of the areca nut, is 

 a powerful agent for destroying tape-worms, resembling in its action 

 pelletierine, an aromatic, oily alkaloid obtained from the bark of the 

 pomegranate. Like nicotine it is poisonous, half a grain sufficing to- 

 kill a rabbit in a few moments. It influences the respiration as- 

 well as the heart, causes fcetanic convulsions, and has an extraordinary 

 influence in increasing intestinal peristaltis. Locally applied or- 

 when given internall}^ it contracts the pupils. In India the nut has 

 long been used as a vermifuge, the dose being a teaspoonful of the- 

 freshly grated kernel. 



According to G. King the nut is useful in checking the pja^osis- 

 of pregnancy. Control experiments made with tincture of catechu 



