THE PALMS OF BRITISH INDIA AND CEYLON. 941 



extensively for pickling gherkins, limes, the cabbage from the heart 

 of the Cocoanut and Palmyra trees, and several other substances/ 



The following particulars regarding the preparation of vinegar 

 apply to the Madras Presidency" : The producers are the toddy' 

 shopkeepers, and they convert their unspent todd}^ into vinegar 

 in either of the following waj^s. The toddy is placed in a clothed 

 earthen pot and kept there till fermentation is complete and the 

 liquid has become sour. The pot is either kept above ground for a 

 month or two, or is buried underground for three or 4 months or 

 more, and then taken out. The longer the pot is kept closed and 

 underground, the better the qualit}^ of the vinegar. In either 

 case pure vinegar is obtained when the pot is opened and the 

 sediment has been removed. Vinegar is also made by heating- 

 fermented toddy either by fire or by exposure to the sun. It is 

 procured in a shorter time by this method, but the quantity is 

 less than by the slow or natural fermentation. The vinegar thus 

 obtained is, however, used both for medicinal purposes and in 

 cooking. There is no shop or bazar in Madras where country- 

 made vinegar is specially sold, and the trade is not so extensive as 

 that in either English or German vinegar. 



4-. Palm Wine or Arah. — If the toddy be distilled the result is 

 palm wine (arak). " The extent to which the spirituous liquor is 

 employed." says Watt, " may be judged from the fact that at one 

 time the Bombay Government became so alarmed at the excessive 

 consumption of arak in Siu-at that they ordered large numbers of 

 this useful palm to be destroyed. In this connection it is interest- 

 ing to observe that Fryer, who visited Surat in 1673, mentions 

 that on drawing near the roadstead they saw groves of Brab-trees, 

 from which the Parsis made a ' wine akin to toddy.' This wine 

 the sailors drank, and the result was perpetual disturbances of the 

 peace. The plentifulness of the toddy resulted in the district 

 being overrun by ' soldiers and seamen of the Moors. ' 



5. The Fruit. — Within the shell of the young fruit there is a 

 jelly-like fluid which is eve^ntuallj^ transformed and deposited 



1 Ferguson W. 1. c. p. 29. 



- Watt, G. The commercial products of India. London. 1908, p. 1111 



