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THE COCOANUT PALM. 



From the fruit is obtained many articles of luxury and trade, thus, 

 first, the husk. After the thick green external pellicle is stripped off 

 the shell, it is placed to dry in the sun ; this being fibrous is beat 

 into a sort of hemp, and is known in this state by the name of Coir. 

 It is spun into cables, ropes, and yarn of every dimension and size, 

 from a single pack-thread to a cable for a first-rate man-of-war ; and 

 it is preferable for ship's use, as it is elastic and becomes as hard 

 as iron when tarred and soaked in salt water, but it is more unwieldy 

 for stowage than hemp rope. Large quantities of it are annually 

 sent from Ceylon, Bombay, and parts of the Malabar and Coromandel 

 coast. 



The albumen, or kernel, produces oil by boiling it in water, after it 

 has been pounded or rasped. Grated, a sweet milk, used as a sub- 

 stitute for cow's or goat's milk, is produced, by various preparations. 

 Jelly, copra, butter, candles, and sugar are produced, and, by fermen- 

 tation, vinegar. The oil it yields is used at table, and is equal in 

 quality to oil of almonds when fresh, but it soon becomes rancid, and 

 in this state is only used locally by painters, or to burn in lamps. 

 The natives of India use it in quantities for anointing their persons ; 

 it gives a fine gloss to the skin. A soap is also manufactured from it, 

 which, with the exception of one prepared from the coratoe {Agam 

 Americana), and discovered by Dr. Robinson about eighty years ago, 

 is the only one known soluble in salt water. 



The kernel is used as a fattening substance in the dairy, aviary, &c. ; 

 and there is not any description of animal, graminivorous, carnivorous, 

 or herbivorous, that does not feed on it with avidity. It is wholesome 

 food for man, beast, and bird. 



Medicinal Properties. — The oil is given in plethora and as a vermi- 

 fuge in Jamaica. It is given while fasting, warmed and with a little 

 sugar, in flux. An emulsion of the oil and kernel is prescribed in 

 coughs and pulmonary diseases generally. Pound the kernel with 

 water, place it to settle, and skim off the cream. It is preferable to 

 the expressed oil.* The outside, scraping of the husk, and branches 

 applied to ulcers will cleanse and heal them rapidly if soaked in proof 

 rum ; the efficacy of this application was proved by the cure of two 

 bad ulcers occasioned by the bite of a negro's teeth. The young roots 

 boiled with ginger and salt are efficacious in fevers, same as the 

 bamboo.f In the Maldives, where it is indigenous, the cocoanut oil 

 is esteemed a powerful antidote against the bite of poisonous reptiles ; 

 indeed in such cases most oils are. 



Its chemical properties are as follows : The milk of the cocoanut 

 effervesces with an acid extract of that plant, and the acid then pre- 

 cipitates in a greyish hue, which becomes of a rich violet colour by 

 the addition of a fixed alkali. It is with this that most cottons are 

 dyed. This emulsion mixed with quicklime causes the alkali to 

 become rose-coloured. Dyers use this milk with great advantage 

 in dyeing black linens, silks, and cotton stuffs. 



The nut when it is gathered young contains an opaline water, 

 which is quite clear if filtered, and is utilized for drinking. In 

 countries where potable water is not obtained, only the milk or water 

 * Dancer. f Hort. Jamaic. 



