THE SAPUCAYA NUTS OF COMMERCE. 201 



four inches or more in diameter. He states that the nuts are sweet and 

 very good to eat, but adds nothing further. 



As the figure given by Aublet of the seed of his Lecythis grandiflora 

 agrees pretty well with the Sapucayas of our shops, it has been occa- 

 sionally inferred that they are produced by that species. But Aublet has 

 another Lecythis, to which he applies the name Zabucajo, winch he says 

 bears- in Guiana that name, and is also called Quatele, its fruit like the 

 other, having received from the colonists the appellation of Marmite de 

 Singe, or Monkey-pot. The description given by him of the tree, agrees 

 very well with that of Piso. As for the cup, whose lid naturally falls off 

 when ripe, it does not seem to be the same as that of Piso, as far as can be 

 gathered from description. Portuguese turners make boxes and other small 

 articles out of the cups. In other respects the statements are similar to those 

 of Piso. For this reason, Prof. Oliver, in the ' Official Guide to the Kew 

 Museums,' refers the Sapucayas to both L. ollaria and L. zabucajo, apparently 

 regarding the two species as the same. We are informed, however, by Messrs. 

 Keeling and Hunt, the great fruit importers, that the Sajmcayas on sale in 

 this country, come exclusively from Para; and not from Demerara, which 

 raises a suspicion that there may be differences between the trees of the 

 two countries. We are also informed, on good authority, that no Sapucayas 

 come hither from Demerara, their quality being inferior to that of the 

 Brazilian kind. This, at all events, is certain, that Sapucayas are produced 

 in the interior of great hard goblet-shaped capsules, which open by a cir- 

 cidar lid, in the same way, only on a grand scale, as the seed-vessels of our 

 own little Henbane and Anagallis. Hence, Sapucayas are seeds, not nuts ; for 

 all nuts, properly so-called, are seed-vessels forming seeds in their interior. 



The name of Monkey-pot is said to have arisen thus : When the cup 

 of a Lecythis falls, its lid drops off, the seeds rolls out, and it then becomes 

 a hard pot with a narrow mouth. These pots are used for catching mon- 

 keys. Filled with sugar they are placed on the ground which such animals 

 frequent. The sugar attracts the latter, who pick it out leisurely till they 

 are disturbed, when they insert the paw, grasp as much sugar as it will 

 hold, and endeavour to escape with their prize. But their doubled fist being 

 larger than the mouth of the pot, cannot be withdrawn, and the monkeys, 

 tenaciously holding the sugar, run off with a pot firmly enclosing one paw. 

 This renders it impossible for them to escape from their pursuers by 

 climbing, and they are easily run down. We do not further advert to the 

 Botanical question, which must be studied with reference to Von Martius' 

 Brazilian Flora, and the materials accumulated in Museums. 



[Mr T. C. Archer, in his ' Popular Economic Botany ' thus speaks of the 

 Sapucaya.] Editor: — 



" This curious nut is very superior to the Para or Brazil nut, its flavour 

 is finer, and it is more digestible ; but, unfortunately, these good qualities 

 are as well known to the monkeys, which abound in the Brazilian forests, as 

 to ourselves ; the consequence is that, instead of pelting the castanheiros 

 with them, they eat them, and we get but very few. The trees grow in the 



