258 



THE KUT CULTUEIST. 



globular, four to six inolies in diameter, with a brittle 

 husk on the outside, and within this a hard, tough, 

 woody shell, fully one-half inch thick, containing a large 

 number of the closely packed, three-sided, rough nuts, 

 about an inch and a half to two inches or over in length, 

 as seen in Fig. 101. The kernels are very white, solid 

 and oily. When mature the fruit falls entire, and the 

 natives of the country collect them, splitting the shells 

 to obtain the nuts. An occasional entire fruit is sent to 

 other countries, as a curiosity, 

 or for the cabinet of some bota- 

 nist. The Brazil nut is not 

 only indigenous to Brazil, but 

 also of Guiana, Venezuela (f orm-- 

 ing immense forests on the Or- 

 inoco, where they are called 

 Juvia), and southward on the 

 Rio Negra and in the valley 

 of the Amazon. In fact, the 

 supply appears to be inexhaust- 

 ible ; the only difficulty is in 

 getting the nuts from the for- 

 ests to some point where they 

 can be shipped out of the 

 country. The principal export 

 is from Para, but there are 

 many smaller cities and towns 

 where a load of these nuts may be obtained on short 

 notice. A very superior oil may be obtained from the 

 nuts, by pressure, but the principal use for them is for 

 desserts and confectionery. ^ They are always abundant 

 in our city markets. 



BfiEAD NUT. — The fruit of a large tree, the Brosi- 

 mum Alicastrum, of the bread fruit family {Artocar- 

 pacem), native of the West Indies, but best known in 

 Jamaica. The botanical authorities disagree in regard 



FIG. 101. BBAZH, NUT. 



