196 ON THE ECONOMIC USES OP LEAVES. 



of the leaves of the coco-tree to defend their faces from the scorching 

 rays of the sun ; and this kind of armour is said to have a somewhat 

 pleasing and graceful appearance when worn by young persons. The 

 unexpanded leaves are employed to show marks of respect to persons in 

 power. When the Governor or Chief Justice travel, lines made of the 

 stems of creeping plants are stretched along on each side of the road 

 about three or four feet from the ground. Upon those lines young palm 

 leaves are suspended. The head civil servant of a district may command 

 the inhabitants under his immediate control to ornament the road along 

 which he passes ; but he is not warranted in claiming this mark of atten- 

 tion beyond his own district. The immature leaves of the coco-nut palm 

 have a hue yellow colour, and a beautiful texture resembling fine leather 

 or satin. In some parts of Ceylon, natives evince great taste in orna- 

 menting triumphal arches, as also ball-rooms and similar places of pub- 

 lic resort, with the leaves of this tree, and some remarkably beautiful 

 species of moss. As the young leaves are translucent, they serve to 

 make lanterns, in the construction of which many of the inhabitants are 

 very dexterous. The practice of showing respect to individuals by means 

 of the branches of palm-trees is very ancient. (See Matt., xxi. 8 ; Mark, 

 xi. 8. ; and John xii. 13.) The foliage of the palm tribe has been in 

 many countries considered an emblem of joy and victory ; and hence 

 the word palm is sometimes employed as a synonyme of victory and 

 triumph. (See Levit. xxiii. 40.) It is remarkable that a similar mode of 

 showing respect by waving palm branches prevailed among the aborigines 

 of America when it was discovered by Columbus. In ancient times, 

 when pilgrims resorted to Palestine, they commonly returned bearing 

 palm-leaves ; on this account they were denominated Palmers. Captain 

 Lyon, when describing the amusements of the natives of some parts of 

 Northern Africa, informs us that the dancers " were directed by an old 

 woman, with a torch in one hand and a long palm-branch in the other, 

 and sung in chorus verses which she repeated to them." In the island 

 of Otaheite the female inhabitants wear bonnets constructed of the leaf 

 of the coco. 



The leaflets are sometimes used to write upon, and the instrument 

 employed to make the impression is an iron stylus, the pen of the Scrip- 

 tures. The stylus was used by the Romans to write on waxen tablets, 

 leather, &c. The leaves of the Palmyra (Borassus flabelliformis), or Tali- 

 pot (Corypha umbraculifera), are, however, much more frequently em- 

 ployed for this purpose. Contracts and other legal instruments are often 

 engraved upon tablets of copper, similar in shape to a slip of the Talipot 

 leaf, which have occasionally a border of silver or gold. 



An allusion is made to the practice of writing on tablets in Isaiah 

 xxx., 8, and Habbakuk ii., 2. Palm leaves, when they are prepared t* 

 receive the impression of the stylus, are called ollaTis. The natives 

 write letters to one another on ollahs, which are neatly rolled up, and 

 sometimes sealed with a little gum lac. In this manner they pass 



