THE BETEL VINE 165 



of Malabar it is called by a name which is rendered 

 as adike, or adika, in scientific books, but would stand 

 more chance of being correctly pronounced by the 

 average Englishman if it were spelled uddiky. The 

 coast districts of Canara and Malabar being famed 

 for their betel nuts, the trade name of the article 

 was taken from the languages current there, and was 

 tortured by the Portuguese into areca. Over the 

 greater part of India the natives use the Hindus- 

 tanee name supari, but by Englishmen it is best 

 known as the betel nut, because it is always found 

 in company with the betel leaf, with which, however, 

 it has no more connection than strawberries have 

 with cream. The one is the leaf of a kind of pepper 

 vine, and the other is the seed, or nut, of a palm. 

 But nature and man have combined to marry them 

 to one another, and it is difficult to think of them 

 separately. 



In life the betel vine climbs up the stem of the 

 areca palm, and in death the areca nut is rolled in 

 a shroud of the betel leaf and the two are munched 

 together. Other things are often added to the 

 morsel, such as a clove, a cardamom, or a pinch of 

 tobacco, and a small quantity of fresh lime is indis- 

 pensable. 



What is the precise nature of the consolation 

 derived from the chewing of this mixture it is not 

 easy to say. Outwardly it produces effects which 

 are visible enough, to wit, a most copious flow of 

 "saliva, which is dyed deep red by the juice of the 



