74 IVOXDEItS OF THE TROPICAL FORESTS, 
wax. The lowlands of Guiana, between 3" and N. 
lat,, are frequently covered with this social lan-palni, 
whose full-grown fronds, when cut and dried in the shade, 
cover themselves with light-coloured scales. These melt 
in a warmth of 206'^ F., and then form a straw-coloured 
liquid, which again concretes on cooling. It bums with 
as clear and bright a llame oa the best bees'-wax, and 
will no doubt become a considerable article of trade, 
when once the spirit of industry awakens in those rich 
but thinly- populated regions. Like many other palms, 
the Carnauha does not confine her gifts to one single 
product. The boiled fruit is edible, and the pith of the 
young stems affords a nutritious fecula. Hool's thatched 
with its leaves resist for many years the effects of the 
weather, and its wood may be used for a variety of 
purposes- 
A kind of wax, exuding from the rings of its trunk, 
is also produced by the beautiful Cc)m'i/lo/i amiicoln, which 
grows on the slopes of the Andes, op to an elevation of 
eight thousand feet Even the lofty vault of the Crystal 
Palace would be unable to span this majestic palm, which, 
according to Humboldt's accurate measurement, towers one 
hundred and eighty feet above the ground, and bears a 
tuft^ of froirds each twenty-four feet long. 
The cabbage-palm of the Antilles almost rivals the 
mountain Ceroxylon in magnificence of growth, as its 
stem, which near to its base is about seven feet in circum- 
ference, ascends stmight and tapering to the height of 
1 30 feet. Its lofty fronds, movetl by the gentlest breeze, 
are an object of beauty wliich can hardly be conceived by 
those who are unused to the magnificent vegetation of a 
tropical sun, Within the leaves which surround the top 
of the trunk, the cabbige, composed of longitudinal flakes, 
like ribnnds, but so comimct as to form a crisp and solid 
body, lies concealed. It is white, about two or three 
feet long, as thick as a man's arm, and perfectly cylin- 
drical. A\Tien eaten raw, it resembles the almond in 
