360 Palms. 



- • . _ 



which is extremely valuable for its hardness, sometimes even 

 taking a very high polish. In some countries this is the only 

 kind of timber the inhabitants possess ; and it therefore serves 

 all the purposes for which wood is required. Of the hardest 

 parts, weapons are usually manufactured, and these possess 

 such density as to be no unfit match for those of iron. Sections 

 of the stem, the soft interior being removed, are converted into 

 drums ; and the stems, split lengthwise, and channelled out, 

 are employed as conduits for water. The soft interior, in most 

 of the large-stemmed species, consists entirely of cellular tissue, 

 and usually contains a large quantity of starch, which renders 

 it very nutritious. This is obtained as food from many spe- 

 cies, but especially from the Sago Palm, in which it is particu- 

 larly abundant. The unexpanded buds of many species also 

 furnish a wholesome article of food. Those of the Cabbage 

 Palm of the West Indies are very commonly boiled and eaten, 

 when they have a flavor very similar to that of the ordinary 

 Cabbage. This Palm is one of the stateliest and most elegant 

 of the whole tribe. The leaves of many species are used en- 

 tire to form thatch, fences, and fuel ; the midribs furnish oars; 

 and the fibres of the leaves are spun into thread, of which 

 cords, ropes, and various woven fabrics are made. The ropes 

 manufactered from the fibres of the Cocoa-nut husk are equal 

 in strength to hemp ; and for cables are said to be superior, 

 on account of their great elasticity. The sap of some Palms 

 is a very pleasant, sweet beverage ; and by fermentation it 

 makes a sort of wine, or affords the material for distilling the 

 spirit called Arrack. The Date and the Cocoa Palms furnish 

 well-known and valuable fruits. Upon the Date subsist almost 

 entirely a great part of the inhabitants of Egypt, Arabia, and 

 Persia. A single tree will bear upwards of a hundred weight 

 of dates in a season, and sometimes more than twice that 

 amount. They come into bearing at from six to ten years of 

 age, and are fruitful for more than two hundred years. Abont 

 two hundred species of Palm are known ; and it has been 

 estimated that the total number of species may probably 

 amount to a thousand, many hundreds yet remaining to be 

 discovered. 



