PALMACE^. 



613 



Fig. 272. 



S. Rumphii. 



o. Tree. b. Young, &c. c. Fertile spadix. 

 d. Ripe fruit. 



Sago was not known to the ancients ; 

 the first notice of it, according to Pereira, 

 is by Lopez (Hist. dell. Ind. Oc. 1578). 

 It appears to have been* very early used 

 in the East Indies, where it constitutes a 

 large proportion of the food of the na- 

 tives in certain places. It is usually ob- 

 tained by cutting the stem of the tree into 

 convenient lengths, splitting these longi- 

 tudinally so, as to form a kind of trough, 

 in which the soft internal portion is 

 stirred and mixed till the fecula becomes 

 suspended, when the mixture is drawn 

 off, through a sieve, and the amylaceous 

 matter suffered to subside ; when dried, 

 this precipitate resembles a yellowish- 

 white arrow-root, and forms what is called 

 meal Sago (Fig. 46). To form the Granu- 

 lar Sago, the former is made into a paste 

 with water, and granulated in drying. 

 There are several varieties, of which the most esteemed is the Pearl Sago, 

 which is of a whiter colour, and in smaller grains than the common kind. 

 It is stated that a single tree will furnish from five hundred to six hundred 

 pounds of the farina. 



Sago is insoluble in cold water, but by boiling becomes soft, and at last 

 forms a gelatinous solution. It is nutritive and easy of digestion, and there- 

 fore constitutes an excellent article of diet for the invalid and convalescent. 



The Borassus flabettiformis is said by Ainslie to be one of the most useful 

 trees in India. The juice, like that of the Arenga and Cocos, is called Toddy, 

 and when fresh is a sweet and pleasant-tasted liquid, which is considered 

 cooling and aperient, and is much used as a preventive of constipation. 

 When kept for some hours, fermentation takes place, and it is transformed 

 into an intoxicating liquor, known as Palm Wine. Hyphcene thebaica is 

 called the Gingerbread Tree, from the resemblance of the brown, mealy rind 

 of its fruit to that kind of cake. It is more generally, however, known as 

 the Doum Palm. It is an inhabitant of Upper Egypt, where the spongy in- 

 ternal portion of its fruit forms an important article of food. When this pulp 

 is mixed with an infusion of Dates, it constitutes a cooling drink, much pre- 

 scribed among the Arabs in febrile affections, as cooling and demulcent. 

 (Sonnini, Voyage, iii. 15.) Zalacca edulis is a small species, the seeds of 

 which have a pulpy covering, much esteemed by the Burmese. Raphia 

 vinifera and Mauritea vinifera, as their names indicate, afford Toddy and 

 Palm Wine. 



Tribe 4. Coryphee. 



The leaves of'Corypha gebanga are used in Java for a variety of pur- 

 poses, being woven into hats, ropes, &c, and their fibres into a kind of cloth. 

 The stem furnishes an inferior sort of Sago. The root is slightly astringent 

 and emollient, and is used in bowel complaints (Blume, Ru?nphia, ii. 60.) 

 This tribe contains the most important of the Palms; this is the Date Tree, 

 Pkamix dactylifera, the fruit of which forms so essential an article of suste- 

 nance in some parts of the world. It has been known and prized from the 

 earliest antiquity. The fruit is very nourishing and wholesome, and grows 



