MISCELLANEOUS NUTS. 257 



habit of chewing the betel nut is said to be almost uni- 

 versal among the Malayan races, all carrying a box con- 

 taining the nut leaf and lime. These nuts are shipped 

 in large quantities to countries where they do not grow, 

 and the habit of chewing them has spread enormously, 

 of late years, and is likely to increase, as it has with 

 tobacco ; and the efEect upon the users is said to be 

 Yery similar, although some authorities claim that the 

 betel is the most injurious of the two, having a far more 

 deleterious efEect upon the teeth and gnms. But this 

 may be due to the use of the lime. Travelers in coun- 

 tries where these nuts are in common use tell wonderful 

 tales about the invigorating effects of the betel, and how 

 their assistants and followers are enabled, by its use, to 

 perform the most exhausting labor for days at a time, 

 which, without it, would be impossible. We have no 

 doubt that the users of tobacco will claim just as much 

 for this narcotic weed, and probably could produce as 

 many trustworthy witnesses in support of it. The betel 

 is, like tobacco, a narcotic stimulant, and causes gid- 

 diness in persons unaccustomed to it, excoriates the 

 mouth, and is so burning that Western nations will be 

 slow to adopt this Eastern habit. 



Bladder nut. — A rather inappropriate name for 

 the seed pods and small seeds of one of our common 

 large deciduous shrubs, the Staphylea trifolia. It is 

 sometimes planted for ornament. The small white 

 flowers are produced in hanging racemes, succeeded by 

 large bladdery pods, hence its common name. 



Brazil nut. — The fruit of Bertholletia excelsa, a 

 lofty tree of the myrtle family (MyrtaceoB). The tree 

 attains a height of from one hundred to one hundred 

 and fifty feet, with stems three to four feet in diameter. 

 The leaves are broad, smooth, and about two feet long, 

 rather thick, and of the texture of leather. The fruit 

 is produced mainly on the uppermost branches, and is 

 17 



