THE COCOA NUT. 



67 



the native name Gohie, The seeds of both these plants are 

 boiled by the negroes and eaten as peas. The ground-nut 

 is used in various ways in North and South America ; it is 

 however most generally roasted. In South Carolina it is 

 roasted, and used as chocolate ; in Paris it is cultivated as a 

 vegetable, and although requiring the assistance of a hotbed 

 in raising, it nevertheless is by no means uncommon. Its 

 curious habit of burying its pods causes it to be occasionally 

 cultivated in our hothouses as a curiosity. They are now 

 sold by most dry-fruiterers, but the bulk of those imported 

 find their way to the oil-mills. The supply is irregular, — 

 sometimes several hundred quarters in the year, and at other 

 times none at all. The pod seems made of a material not 

 unlike that of reeds, is very irregular in shape, and covered 

 with small depressions between longitudinal veins. It is 

 never likely to be much used as an edible fruit in this 

 country, being in no respect superior to the common grey 

 pea of our fields. 



The Cocoa or Cokeu Ntjt. Cocos nucifera, (Nat. Ord. 

 Palmace(je.) (Plate IX. fig. 44.) 



This familiar nut is generally known in commerce by the 

 name Cocoa-nut; it is the fruit of a fine species of Palm. 

 To the inhabitants of the tropics the cocoa-nut is invaluable ; 



