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urethra when taken too freely. Immoderate use of the fruit is 
said to cause rheumatic and other diseases. 
Experiments recently published in the Bulletin of the Torrey 
Botanical Club by Professor Kirkwood and the writer, (see Garden 
Contribution No. 26) conducted in part in this garden and with the 
cooperation of Dr. MacDougal, indicate that the nutritive value of 
the endosperm of the cocoanut resides mainly in its high content 
of oil and moderate amount of carbohydrate. Of the former the 
fresh endosperm contains 35-40 per cent.; of the latter, approxi- 
mately 10 per cent. The amount of proteid is very slight, being 
little more than 3 per cent. The quantity of inorganic matter is 1 
per cent. The water amounts to nearly 50 per cent. The chief 
constituent of the milk, aside from water (95 per cent.), is sugar, 
nearly all of the solids being thus composed, as the very sweet 
taste amply testifies. Variousalcoholic beverages have been made 
from fermented cocoanut milk. 
The endosperm is very agreeable to the taste, and, with the 
exception of the cellulose (3 per cent.), is readily digestible. 
Domestic animals eat it eagerly, and the cocoanut-crab feeds 
on it almost exclusively. The residue left over after the fat has 
been expressed from the “copra” is widely used in Europe as 
food for cattle, also as fertilizer. 
The use of cocoa-fat as a substitute for butter among the 
poorer classes has been increasing, and it is frequently employed 
as a butter adulterant. The tendency of cocoa-fat to rancidity is 
not as great as that of animal fats, and for this reason “butters ” 
made from it keep well, and have been recommended especially 
for military and naval uses. Recent researches show that ‘‘ cocoa 
butter” is quite as agreeable to the taste, and as easily and com- 
pletely digested, as ordinary butter. Its heat of combustion is 
9.066 small calories per gram. 
“Cocoanut cream,” a dietary product much used in the tropics, 
is made by grating the endosperm and squeezing the fluid from 
the finely divided material through cloth. In a warm climate the 
resultant mixture contains much oil and is a very delicious acces- 
sory food. Besides the oil, the ‘cream’ contains chiefly carbo- 
hydrate and proteid. 
