THE PALMS OF WESTERN TROPICAL AFRICA. 285 



visitor to the scene of the excavations in the Indian burial ground at the foot of 

 the Morro, and witnessed the exhumation of the bodies, rdany of which were in 

 a perfect state of preservation as mummies. The eyes were generally found in 

 the vicinity of them, and in some instances were attached to the sockets, which 

 I think is strong evidence to coniirm the belief that they are human." 



This letter is accompanied by a scientific report from Dr. Henry Wm. A. Cole- 

 man, M.A., of the same place, who is also a firm believer in the eyes being those 

 of Indians. Dr. Coleman gives the following conclusions as the result of his 

 experiment :— 



" That they are human eyes in a state of petrefaction, the external tunics 

 have become decomposed and obliterated by time, leaving only the vitreous 

 humours with its membrana Hyoloidea, and having the crystalline embedded in 

 its cup-like excavation or fossa Hyoloidea. By continuous boiling with water 

 the lens becomes separated, and its compact membrane or capsule can be dis- 

 tinctly seen ; the nucleus of the lens is easily distinguished ; also the subdivisions 

 of its substance showing its three layers concentrically arranged like those of 

 an onion, which by minute examination can be seen to be closely aggregated 

 fibres." — Glasgow Morning Journal, 23r(/ February. 



THE PALMS OF WESTERN TROPICAL AFRICA. 



The following extract, relating to the economical uses of the palms of Africa, 

 is from a botanical account of the palms of Western tropical Africa, by Gustav 

 Mann and Hermann Wendland, lately published in the Transactions of the 

 Linnsean Society : — 



" Throughout the tropics Palms are amongst the most useful plants to man- 

 kind ; this is more especially the case among people so little advanced in 

 civilization as the natives of West Africa, who obtain from them the source 

 of many of their comforts. 



" Foremost among the useful palms of tropical Western Africa stands the 

 JEllceis Guineefisis, Jacq. The oil of the mesocarp of the fruit of this palm 

 constitutes in most parts the chief food of the natives, who hardly ever take a 

 meal in which it is not used in some way or other. It is nutritious and of an 

 agreeable flavour — so much so, indeed, that it generally becomes a favourite 

 dish with Europeans. 



" Besides being used as food, the natives also use it for oiling their bodies, 

 partly to keep away insects, and partly as a substitute for clothing, of which 

 they are entirely destitute. The Bubis or Boobees of the Island of Fernando 

 Po make an excellent poultice of it, which they apply when the hand of any 

 person, found guilty of adultery, has, in accordance with the usage of these 

 people, been cut off. 



" Among the more civilized natives it is used, as with us, in the manufacture 

 of soap ; and it is also employed for lighting their huts, but the oil extracted 

 from the kernel of the nut is generally preferred for this purpose. 



" The exportation of the seeds of this palm is rapidly increasing, and already 

 large quantities are shipped from Sierra Leone and its neighbourhood. 



