MISCELLANEOUS NOTES. 793 



This is evidently one of those insects which occasionally depart from their 

 normal course of life and assume the more important role of pests when the 

 circumstances happen to be favourable. What the circumstances were in 

 this case it is not possible to assert with any accuracy. Odina wodier' is, 

 of course, not a plant of any great economic importance but we would 

 certainly be surprised if one day the insect appears in numbers on an useful 

 plant like ' Moringa ' which happens to be one of the insect's alternative 

 food plants. In conclusion, it need hardly be stated that examples like this 

 often give us warnings of what possibilities there are among insects and 

 make us keep an eye also on all general insects instead of confining our 

 attentions solely to the known depredators of the insect world. 



T. Y. RAMAKRISHNA AIYAR, b.a.,f.e.s.,f.z.s.. 

 First Assistant to the Govt. Entomologist, Madras. 

 The Agrictjltukal College, 



CoiMBATOBE, 9iA Mavch 1915. 

 [We have been unable to publish the photographs. — Eds.] 



No. XXII.— THE SWEET ARECA NUT, ARECA CATECHU 

 VAR DELICIOSA. 



Preliminary Note. 



The authors in describing the species Areca catechu L. in the Flora of 

 British India, Vol. V, page 406, do not mention the astringent taste of the 

 seed. The ordinary betel nut has a very astringent taste when tasted raw 

 (before boiling), the amount of tannin and glucosides being over 14 per 

 cent. (Lewin. liber Areca catechu, &c.). The present variety is fairly sweet to 

 cat and is further distinguished by the fact that the emdosperm is much 

 lighter in colour and softer. On account of the latter character, it becomes 

 pulpy and does not lend itself to the treatment which the areca-nut under- 

 goes before being sent to the market. The cultivators find it a loss to pro- 

 pagate these plants and it only grows occasionally in the areca gardens. The 

 plant bears the same type of fruit year after year and has to be ranked as 

 a distinct variety. I propose the name var. deliciosa on account of its 

 pleasant taste. 



Areca catechu L. var deliciosa : Tree 40 to 80 feet high with leaves and 

 flowers similar to those of Areca catechu, fruit slightly smaller about 1 inch 

 in diameter, remaining green even when nearly ripe, endosperm pale 

 white in colour, soft when ripe, percentage of tannin much less. 



Distribution : — Occasionally met with in the areca gardens in the Western 

 Ghats of Mysore. 



M. K. VENKATA RAU, 



Sr. Asst. Mycologist, 

 Bangalore, dith March 1915, 



No. XXIII.— NOTES ON OUTOH AMMONITES. 



VI.— The Habye Hills. 



In previous notes 1 have shown how the rocks which compose Outch have 



roughly speaking been crinkled into three folds, with axes running East and 



West, in parallel lines. The first line (from the South) occurs 30 miles North 



of the Gulf of Cutch ; the second hne, 16 miles North of the first ; the third 



26 



