57-8 



DEIIGS, NARCOTICS, ETC. 



the East, is found abundant in many of the forests of India, from 

 16 to 30 degs. of latitude. Tiie principal places of its growth 

 are the Burmese territories, a large province on the Malabar 

 coast called the Concan, and the forests skirting the northern 

 parts of Bengal, under the hills which divide it from Nepaul, the 

 south and west coasts of (.^eylon, the south of China, &c., the 

 Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and the Eastern islands, it produces 

 fruit at five years old, and continues bearing till about its twenty- 

 fifth year, when it withers and dies. It thrives at a greater dis- 

 tance from the sea, and in more elevated regions than the coco- 

 nut palm. In Prince of Wales Island some hundreds of thousands 

 of these palms are cultivated. 



The seeds or nuts form a chief ingredient in the celebrated 

 eastern masticatory called Pan and which seems to owe its 

 stimulating properties to the leaves of the Piper Betel. "When 

 prepared for use, the nut is cut into slices and wrapped in the 

 fresh leaves of the betel pepper vine, together with a quantity of 

 quicklime {Chunain) to give it a flavor. The flavor is peculiar, 

 between an herbaceous and an aromatic taste. 



All classes, male and female, chew it ; they say it sweetens the 

 breath, strengthens the stomach, and preserves the teeth, to 

 which it gives a reddish hue ; there is probably less objection to 

 its use than tobaoco or opium, and its taste is more pleasant ; but, 

 if taken to excess, it will produce stupor like other narcotics, and 

 even intoxication. The nuts grow in large bunches at the top, 

 and when ripe are red and have a beautiful appearance ; they 

 resemble the nutmeg in shape and color, but are larger and harder. 

 When gathered they are laid in heaps until the shell be somewhat 

 rotted, and then dried in the sun, after which the process of 

 shelling commences. The trees vary in their yield from 300 to 

 1,000 nuts, averaging about 14 lbs. ; which the cultivators sell at 

 about half a dollar (2s.) a picul of 133 lbs. As these palms are 

 planted usually at the distance of 7i feet, it follows that the pro- 

 duce of an acre is about 10,841 lbs. The tree bears but once in 

 a year generally, but there are green nuts enough to eat all the 

 year long. Betel nut is a staple article of import into China ; 

 25,000 piculs annually is the amount returned, but there is an 

 immense quantity imported in Chinese junks from Hainan, of 

 which there is no account kept. In the single port of Canton alone, 

 15,565 piculs were imported in 1844, and about 400 to Ningpo. 

 3,005 piculs of betel nuts, valued at 8,700 dollars, were imported 

 into Canton in 1850, and as much as 4,000 tons of areca nuts are 

 shipped annually from Ceylon. 



The astringent extract obtained from the seeds of the Areca- 

 palm constitutes two (or perhaps more) kinds of the catechu 

 uf the shops. According to Dr. Heyne ("Tracts Hist, and 

 Statist, on India"), it is largely procured in Mysore, about 

 Sirah, in the following manner : — 



The nuts are taken as they come from the tree and boiled for some hours 

 in aa iron vessel. They are then taken out, and the roinaiaing water is in- 



