FEM 
284. 
« in the size and form of the leaves and flowers, the appearance of the 
Ew pods, the — of the seeds, and even the presence of from 2-5 
.*' separate and distinct vem wel Whether these variations depend 
“upon cultivation or not, it is not easy to decide; whether or no, 
* numerous intermediate tions between the different forms may be 
* traced. The number of cotyledons varies even in seeds taken from 
“ the same pod. Barter says that the nuts with four ——— are not 
`“ so much prized as those with two in the native markets.’ 
st 
| Among: the negroes of West Africa cola nuts oceupy a high 
ition both in the social and dietetic economy of their daily life. 
“With the majority of ‘the I races — that vast extent 
iof e REN between Senegambia to the north and 
‘© Angola th of the Equator, cola endi have from ito immemorial 
poached d in — value, and their virtues so highly prized 
k- ‘ihat their employment h as become an indispensable and permanent 
: ithin the last f few centuries, however, their use has been 
“even still more extensively diffused, and to such a degree as to excite 
“a large commercial intercourse to sept up between the coastal 
. districts, and the regions of Central Africa and the Soudan."* In the 
interior of tropical Africa no doubt the cola passes into the hands of 
Arab traders, from whom it finds its way through trade channels and at 
constantly enhanced prices to € Indian Ocean: "This led Mr. C. S. 
bee — who was at one time Acti p Administrator of: the Gold Coast, 
success. 
It may be observed that in ea times eola nuts were supposed to be 
used merely às & means for-renderin. g water sweet and palatable when 
drunk before or after meals; but. it was soon evident that they 
possessed other properties and that they had been selected as if by 
intuition on account of the property which undoubtedly they did possess 
su & 2 necessary stimulus to those who have to endure an 
as in other par flesh of animals is often scaree and 
difficult to procure. The use of n" nuts to —— water: palatable 
may be SS to that of olives in Eu uropean ntries, The latter 
are well known to enhance the er of iv?" is eaten after them. 
On the other hand, the power said to be possessed by cola nuts of 
staying the er avings of hunger and of shading those who eat them to 
endure prolonged labour without fatigue is comparable to that ascribed 
to the leaves of the Cóea plant of -Eeuador and Peru. In fact cola nuts 
in Sou: cec peni Africa play the. rm that Erythr oxylon Coca does in 
More thant ive centuries ago Dapper announced that the seeds of 
the kola “as experience teacheth, eaten in the evening hindreth 
: E s the Cola nut of tropieal West Arica, by Dr. Daniell, Pharm. Journ., [2] 
+ In tropical countries the only ; available 
supply of water is often thick and 
muddy. The seeds of many trees in different Poy of the world, which 'eontain 
ucilaginous or ingent matter, a used to clarify ter by rubbing round 
the sides of the vessel containing it. The principle of their action has never been 
investigated properly, but ae bern Em physical than chemieal. Strychnos 
wn examples. 
jos Aa the Indian elearing 
P Kew Í us ant fonds one of the best known 
Report, 1880, p. 
Set ROME Tm 
