The Palm and its Vanetics. 59 



and justly entitling it to the poet's praise, as 



" The loftiest Dryad of the woods, 

 Within whose bosom infant Bacchus broods." 



The uses of this tree are manifold, and its valuable properties 

 claim man's gratitude. Its hard, agate-like, polished timber, 

 known as palmyra and porcupine wood, is prized by the cabinet- 

 maker; the hard nut which encloses its fruit the savage carves 

 into handsome bowls and goblets ; the milky liquid within has a 

 sweet and delicious flavor, and is very wholesome, refreshing, and 

 digestible ; the fibrous husk can be woven into sails and cordage, 

 or used for stuffing mats and cushions ; the terminal bud, or palm 

 cabbage, is delicate eating; the central part of the stem, when 

 young, aflbrds a sweet and excellent food ; the fermented sap 

 yields the spirituous liquor so well known as arrack ; the dried 

 leaves can be employed for thatch ; and every boy knows that the 

 nut itself is a popular and justly-prized dainty. 



Commercially speaking, the most valuable product of this all- 

 important tree is the oil or butter obtained from its kernel, and 

 largely used in Europe in the manufacture of stearine candles. In 

 the East it is employed as an unguent, and for illuminating pur- 

 poses. It is obtained by pressure- of the kernel, or by boiling it 

 over a slow fire. Seven or eight nuts will supply one quart. It 

 is liquid in tropical climates, but in colder temperatures solidifies 

 into a white, butter- like oil. Compression separates it into a more 

 liquid part called olein, and a more solid part known as cocosin 

 or cocustearin. 



The Cocoa palm ripens in about seven years, and continues 

 productive for seventy or eighty, each tree bearing annually from 

 eighty to one hundred nuts. 



The Double cocoa-nut (Cocos de Mer) of the Seychelles 

 Islands, which, in the early days of maritime enterprise, wa> re- 

 garded as a marvel, and originated a score of fables, is the fruit of 

 a palm of a wholly different genus (Loidoicea Seychellarum). It 

 was originally^ found floating on the waves of the Indian Occan, 

 and as its birth-place could not at first be discovered, became en- 

 veloped in an atmosphere of mystery. As a supposed talisman 

 against poison and infectious diseases, it was eagerly sought after ; 

 and a good nut would bring the enormous sum. of ^150. It was 

 said that only one tree in the world produced this rare and won- 

 drous fruit — " Solomon's Nut" was the popular app ll^tion — and 

 that its roots were fixed deep in the ocean bed, while a griflin 

 kept watch and ward over the treasure, as the Dragon over the 

 Hesperidan apples. But in 1768 it was discovered by two French 

 officers, Captain Duchen n and M. Barre, growing plentifully in 

 the Seychelles Islands; and was ascertained to be the fiuit of a 

 palm, with a straight, slender stem, 100 feet high, which requires 

 upwards of a century and a quarter to reach maturity. The 



