260 THE VEGETABLE IVORY OF COMMERCE. 



rarely met with ; the ground appearing as if it had been swept. The 

 trunk is always pulled down, partly by its own weight, partly by 

 its aerial roots ; and thus forms a creeping caudex, which is fre- 

 quently twenty feet long, but is seldom higher than six feet. The top is 

 crowned with from twelve to twenty pinnatisect leaves, the entire length 

 of which is from eighteen to twenty feet. The segments are towards 

 the base of the leaf alternate, towards the apex opposite ; they are three 

 feet long, two inches broad, and their entire number amounts 

 generally to 160. 



The fruit, a collection of from six to seven drupes, forms clusters, 

 which are as large as a man's head ; and stands at first erect, but when 

 approaching maturity, its weight increasing, and the leaf-stalk, which 

 having up to that period supported the bulky mass, having rotted away, 

 it hangs down. A plant bears at one time from six to eight of these 

 heads, each weighing, when ripe, about twenty-five pounds. The drupes 

 are covered outside with hard woody protuberances. Each drupe con- 

 tains from six to nine seeds, but generally seven. The testa is thick, 

 bony ; the embryo peripherical, and placed near the hilum. The seed 

 at first contains a clear insipid fluid, with which travellers allay their 

 thirst ; afterwards this same liquor becomes milky and sweet, and it 

 changes its taste by degrees as it acquires solidity, until at last it is 

 almost as hard as ivory. The liquor contained in the young fruit turns 

 acid if they are cut from the tree and kept some time. From the kernels 

 (albumen) the American Indians, as well as European turners, fashion 

 the knobs of walking sticks, the reels of spindles, small boxes, and little 

 toys, which are whiter than animal ivory, and equally hard, if they ar e 

 not put under water ; and if they are they become white and hard 

 when dried again. Bears, hogs, and turkeys devour the young fruit 

 with avidity."* 



It is of the same nature, though not of the same consistence as the 

 flour of the cereal grains, the aromatic substance of the nutmeg, and 

 the pulp of the cocoa-nut, which in some palms becomes more hard- 

 ened. That of the date, and other pahns, is quite as hard, if not harder, 

 but it is neither large enough, nor white enough to be of use to the 

 turner. 



According to an analysis by Muller, the composition of the seed may 

 be represented by C 84 H 21 O a2 = 2 C la H 10 O 10 +HO; Baumhauer 

 obtained a precisely similar result some years later. 



Dr. Phipson states that he has found that vegetable ivory takes in 

 contact with concentrated sulphuric acid, a splendid red colour, almost 

 equal to magenta. This colour, at first pink, then bright red, becomes 

 much deeper, and more purple when the acid has been allowed to act for 

 about twelve hours. This reaction may sometimes be found useful in 

 order to distinguish small pieces of vegetable ivory from the ivory of the 



* Popular History of Palms. 



