The Palms. 347 



and in an un ventilated room, where no fresh air can come in, 

 it is very likely to be productive of the most pernicious effects. 

 A sleeping room, therefore, where plants are kept, ought always 

 to be so arranged as to receive plenty of air from without, 

 unless, which is better still, the plants should not be allowed 

 to remain in it at night. 



THE PALMS. 



Thb Palms exceed most other plants in size, and surpass 

 them all in grandeur, and majesty of aspect. They naturally, 

 therefore, commanded the earliest attention of mankind ; and 

 the innumerable purposes to which their fruit, their leaves, 

 and their stems have been applied, as food, clothing and shel- 

 ter, have worthily retained for them that regard which their 

 beauty at first excited. They all bear a strong general re- 

 semblance to each other, and hence were early distinguished 

 by a peculiar name. They are mostly remarkable for the size 

 and strength of their stems, which usually shoot up to a great 

 height from the ground, tapering gracefully from the base to 

 the summit, and surmounted with a magnificent crown of gi- 

 gantic leaves. These towering stems, which, when growing 

 in sheltered situations, are often perfectly straight, sometimes 

 attain the height of two hundred feet, or even more. Other 

 species, however, have stems which trail along the ground, 

 sometimes to the length of five hundred feet. The Palms are 

 remarkable for the prodigious developement of their organs 

 of fructification. A single bunch of the staminiferous flowers 

 of the Date contains about twelve thousand ; whilst another 

 species has been estimated to bear above two hundred thou- 

 sand in one cluster, and three times that number on each tree. 

 Although the flowers are frequently complete, each containing 

 both stamens and pistils, they are more frequently polygamous ; 

 that is, both complete and incomplete flowers are borne on the 

 same individual. They are crowded together in large clus- 

 ters, upon a stalk, which is termed a spadix, having an enor- 



