THE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON. 533 



'Tahitians extract a gummy substance called Pia Pia ; it possesses no 

 fragrant property, but is used bj^ the females to spread over their 

 hair, in the same manner that they are accustomed to use the viscid 

 gum of the Bread-fruit tree. The terminal bud, or cabbage, is an 

 ■excellent vegetable, either cooked, or dressed in stews, hashes, or 

 ragouts ; but as the removal of the bud kills the tree, the natives 

 indulge themselves in eating it onl}^ on occasions of festivity. 

 They either select for this purpose a tree which is comparatively 

 sterile or one which too closely crowds a neighbour. The root is 

 occasionally used instead of areca-nut by betel chewers. In Samoa 

 ■coco-nut shells are the only water vessels of the natives, and are 

 used as vessels for oil. The open eye serves as an orifice, and a 

 small gronimet is passed through the other two eyes by which it is 

 suspended. To remove the kernel, the natives, after having poured 

 •out the water through the open eye, immerse the nut in the sea, 

 where the kernel soon putrefies and is eaten by marine animals. 

 It is then thoroughh'- cleansed and the outside is frequently polished. 

 Both in Samoa and Hawaii the shells are made into cups, in which 

 kava is served. These are often highly polished and become lined 

 with a beautiful pearly enamel from the deposit gradually made by 

 the kava. In many islands the natives also make spoons, dishes, 

 beads, and finger rings of Coco-nut shell, and use broken shells for 

 keeping up the fires in their houses by night. 



Medicinal PRorERTiES. — The oil is used as a substitute for cod 

 liver oil in debility and phthisis ; but in such cases it is not the 

 commercial oil in its crude state, but the oleine obtained bj' 

 pressure, refined by being treated with alkalies, and then 

 repeatedly washed with distilled water. Its prolonged use, 

 however, is attended with disadvantage, inasmuch as it is apt 

 to distiu'b the digestive organs and induce diarrhoea. An inunc- 

 tion of the oil to the whole body is used in fevers, and to the chest 

 in lung diseases. It is used as an application for the growth of hair 

 and to prevent them from turning grey. The expressed juice or 

 milk of the fresh kernel has been siiccessively employed in debility, 

 incipient phthisis, and cachexia. In large doses it proves aperient, 

 and in some cases actively purgative, on which account it has been 

 suggested as a substitute for castor-oil. The fresh kernel or the 

 tender pulp is nourishing, cooling, diuretic, and refrigerating. 

 Toddy is refrigerant and diuretic. The juice of the kernel, with 

 kali jiri, is locally applied to freckles with relief. Old and dried 

 kernel is cut into thin slices and used as an aphrodisiac ingredient 

 in confection ; also as an anthelmintic, it is used in removing tape- 

 worms. 



Cultivation. — " The Coco-nut Palm is a very beautiful tree for 

 a large garden. It grows very freely on the coast, but inland can 

 be cultivated on a river bank with good alluvial soil, or on a 



