OF THE COCO-NUT TREE. 
IIT 
nished, has a lapideous gloss and beauty, which rival those 
of an agate. I have seen a polished portion of the wood 
set in the lid of a silver snuff-box, in the same manner as 
jewellers occasionally fix agates or cornelians. It might, 
I think, be found highly useful in ornamental cabinet- 
work. 
In some parts of the world, I am informed that a kind 
of cradle or couch for young infants is made of the reticu- 
lated substance formed at the base of the leaf. I never 
saw it applied to this purpose in Ceylon ; it is there chiefly 
employed as an instrument of filtration, for straining the 
sweet juice which is extracted from the flowering spath of 
this tree. The Reverend J. Cordiner asserts, that it "is 
manufactured into a durable sackcloth, called gunny ^ which 
is used in making bags for transporting grain," &c. ; and 
Captain Percival says, that it is manufactured into a 
coarse cloth called gririjdkken (I presume he means ganja 
sakJcen) or gunny-cloth. If I mistake not, their statements 
are erroneous ; gunny-cloth is made of hemp. Gunny or 
Goni is not improbably a corruption of ganja, the Hindos- 
tanee name of the hemp-plant (Cannabis sativa). Ac- 
cording to Buchanan, goni-cloth is made from the Ja^ 
nupa (firotolaria junced) *. Sacks made of goni-cloth, are 
in India called gunmy-hags by the BngUsh, and ganja 
sdkhen by the Dutch. 
The unexpanded leaves or terminal leaf-bud is occasion- 
ally eaten by the Europeans as well as by natives. When 
boiled it is tender, and forms a good substitute for cabbage. 
The natives sometimes preserve it in vinegar, and eat it as 
a pickle. It may be observed, that the tree dies when this 
part is removed. 
Many of the indigenous inhabitants, as well as natives of 
* Journey through Mysore, &c, vol. i. p, 226, 
