PALMS AND THEIE USES. 27 



necessaries of life of the aboriginal tribes of tbe tropics, 

 and the inhabitants of Europe consume immense quan- 

 tities of their produce in the shape of fruits, oil, wax, 

 sago, sugar, &o. They play, indeed, a large part in 

 supplying our daily wants. As an illustration Elais 

 guineensis may be cited. This supplies the African Palm 

 Oil, and is a very common plant throughout Western 

 Africa ; the stem is straight and stout, some twenty or- 

 thirty feet high, and supports long pinnate plume-like 

 leaves. Some idea of its importance may be formed, 

 when we relate that oil from this plant to the value of 

 £1,600,000 is annually imported into this country, and 

 used extensively in the manufacture of candles and soap. 

 The oil also forms an ingredient in almost every meal 

 of the Africans, who use it profusely for smearing their 

 bodies, to enable them to resist the bites and stings of 

 insects ; from it they also obtain a wine which is largely 

 consumed and much relished by them. 



Dates, the produce of Fliaenin dactylifera (although 

 only appreciated by us as a luxury), form the chief 

 support of the desert tribes of Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, 

 and Northern Africa, and also of their domestic animals, 

 for camels, horses, and dogs are equally partial to them. 

 The tree is also largely cultivated for its fruits in various 

 parts of Africa, and to some extent in Western Asia 

 and Southern Europe. The produce of these trees must 

 be immense, as each bunch contains some thousands of 

 fruits ; a single tree is said to yield nearly two cwt, of 

 dates as a single crop, and yet only a few tons weight 

 are annually imported and consumed in the United 

 Kingdom ! In addition to the fruit, the Arabs turn the 

 wood and leaves of Phuenix dactylifera to excellent account 

 in the construction of their dwellings, the wood forming 



