526 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV. 



other in the scheme of nature as a crab and a coco-nut tree. The 

 Birgus is ditirnal in its habits, but every night it is said to pay a visit 

 to the sea, no doubt for the purpose of moistening its branchial. 

 The young are likewise hatched and live for some time on the 

 coast. These crabs inhabit deep burrows which they hollow out 

 beneath the roots of trees, and whei-e they accumulate surprising 

 quantities of the picked fibres of the coco-nut husk, on which they 

 rest as on a bed. The Mala3'S sometimes take advantage of this, and 

 collect the fibrous mass as junk. These crabs are very good to 

 eat ; moreover under the tail of the larger there is a great mass of 

 fat, which, when melted, sometimes yields as much as a quart-bottle 

 full of limpid oil. It has been stated by some authors that the 

 Birgus crawls up the coco-nut trees for the purpose of obtaining 

 the nuts. I very much doubt the possibility of this ; but with 

 the screw-pine (Pandanus) the task would be veay much easier. 

 1 was told by Mr. Liesk that on these islands the Birgus lives 

 only on the nuts which have fallen to the ground." 



Oil. — Another valuable production of the coco-nut is the oil, 

 which is an article of exportation from India, Ceylon and Polynesia. 

 It is procured by first extracting the kernel from its outer integu- 

 ment or shell, and boiling it in water. It is then pounded and 

 subjected to great pressure. This being boiled over a slow fire, the 

 oil floats on the surface. This is skimmed off as it rises, and again 

 boiled by itself. Fourteen or fifteen nuts wdll 5deld about two 

 quarts of oil. A somewhat difi'erent practice obtains on the Malabar 

 coast. The kernel is divided into tw^o equal parts, which are 

 ranged on shelves made of laths of the Betel-nut Palm, or split 

 bamboo, spaces being left between tw^o laths of half an inch in 

 width. Under them a charcoal fire is then made, and kept up for 

 two or three days, in order to dry them. After this process they 

 are exposed to the sun on mats, and Avhen thoroughly dried are 

 placed in an oil-press, or sicoor. When the oil is well extracted by 

 this method, a hundred nuts will jdeld about two gallons and a 

 half of oil. This method is usually resorted to when the oil is 

 required for exportation ; the former, when merely used for culinary 

 purposes. The application of steam, especially to a press, for th-e 

 purpose of procuring the oil, has been attended with the greatest 

 advantages. " At Tahiti they procure the Morii, or oil, from the 

 nuts, by first grating the kernel, then depositing it in the hollow 

 trunk of a tree, or some kind of hollow vessel, which is exposed to 

 the sun during the day. After a few days have elapsed, the grated 

 nut is heaped up in the trough or vessel, leaving a space between 

 the heaps ; the oil exuding, drains into the hollow spaces, whence it 

 is collected into Bamboo canes, containing each a gallon or more ; 

 in this way it is sold for export ; but the indolence of the natives 

 prevents its being so important an article of traffic as it might be 



