tiie 
Vol.  XII.] 
COLOMBO,  MAY  ist,  1893. 
[NO.  11. 
CEYLON  MANUAL  OF  CHEMI- 
CAL ANALYSES. 
A HANDBOOK  OF  ANALYSES  CONNECTED  WITH  THE 
INDUSTRIES  AND  PUBLIC  HEALTH  OF  CEYLON  FOR 
PLANTERS,  COMMERCIAL  MEN,  AGRICULTURAL 
STUDENTS,  AND  MEMBERS  OF  LOCAL  BOARDS. 
By  M.  COCHRAN,  m.a.,  f.c.s. 
'( Continued  from  page  611.) 
Chapter  III. 
PRODUCTS  OF  THE  COCONUT  PALM. 
USES  OF  THE  COCONUT  PALM — SEA-BREEZE 
FAVOURABLE  TO  THE  GROWTH  OF  THIS  PALM 
—ANALYSIS  OF  A CEYLON  COCONUT  — “MILK” 
OF  UNRIPE  AND  RIPE  NUTS — ANALYSIS  OF 
TODDY— MINERAL  INGREDIENTS  DRAWN  FROM 
THE  SOIL  BY  THE  DECIDUOUS  PARTS  OF  THE 
COCONUT  PALM— TABULAR  STATEMENT  OF  YIELD 
OF  COCONUT  TREES  ON  VARIOUS  SOILS — TABULAR 
STATEMENT  OF  QUANTITIES  AND  COST  OF 
MANURES  FOR  COCONUT  TREES,  ALSO  OF  ANNUAL 
VALUE  PER  ACRE  OF  COCONUT  ESTATES— COPRA 
—COCONUT  POONAC— COCONUT  AND  PALMNUT 
MEALS— COCONUT  BUTTER— COCONUT  WASTE- 
OIL  IN  COCONUT  SHELLS— ARRACK— DESICCATED 
AND  PREPARED  COCONUT. 
HE  Coconut  palm  (Cocos  nuci- 
fera),  which  flourishes  along 
the  Western  and  Southern 
sea-borde  of  Ceylon,  and  for 
a considerable  distance  in- 
land, is  one  of  the  most 
important  products  of  the 
country.  There  is  perhaps 
no  plant  in  the  world  for 
which  a greater  variety  of  uses  has  been  found, 
and  there  is  no  part  of  the  tree  but  has  its 
use  or  uses.  The  root  is  employed  by  the  natives 
as  a medicinal  agent,  the  stem  for  house  con- 
struction and  articles  of  furniture.  The  plaited 
leaves  have  many  uses.  The  sap  of  the  tree  is 
diverted  from  its  natural  function  of  producing 
flower  and  fruit,  and  made  to  yield  the  form 
of  sugar  called  jaggery,  which,  in  its  turn,  by 
fermentation  and  distillation,  yields  the  intoxi- 
cating spirit  called  arrack.  Lastly,  when  a tree 
happens  to  fall,  the  growing  part  or  “cabbage” 
forms  a very  palatable  vegetable. 
The  tree  flourishes  best  near  or  at  no  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  sea,  in  a free  soil, 
where  the  roots  have  access  to  a plentiful  supply 
of  moisture.  The  saline  particles  in  the  sea- 
breeze  are  commonly  regarded  as  favorable  to 
the  growth  of  the  tree.  The  value  of  common 
salt  as  an  application  to  the  soil  of  coconut 
estates  has  been  much  debated.  Some  cultivators 
strongly  recommend  it  for  inland  coconut  estates, 
and  assert  that  on  estates  too  far  inland  to 
profit  by  the  sea-breeze  the  trees  are  more  apt 
to  drop  unripe  nuts,  than  is  the  case  near  the 
sea-coast.  Quantities  of  common  salt  from  half 
a ton  to  a ton  and  a half  per  acre  are  said 
to  have  been  used  with  benefit;  but  the  claim 
of  common  salt  to  be  recognised  as  a coconut 
manure  is  by  no  means  universally  acknowledged. 
The  following  is  the  analysis  of  a Ceylon 
coconut  by  W.  Lascelles  Scott,  M.S.A.,  from  the 
British  and  Colonial  Druggist: — 
Analysis  of  a Ceylon  Coconut. 
Exterior  fibre  or  coir  ...  ...  32 -65 
Shell ...  ....  17-30 
Flesh  or  edible  portion..,  ...  26-40 
“Milk”  23-65 
100-00 
The  edible  portion  gave  the  following  results ; 
Analysis  of  edible  portion  of  Coconut. 
Nitrogenous  (albumenoid  matter)  6-48 
Fatty  matter  ...  ...  ...  67 *1 1 
Sugar  and  gum  ...  ...  5 -89 
Mineral  matter...  ...  ...  3 -65 
Cellulose  and  color  matter  ...  9"76 
Water  and  loss  ...  ...  7*11 
100-00 
The  interior  fluid  or  “milk”  gave  these  results 
Analysis  of  interior  fluid  of  Coconut. 
Nitrogenous  matter  ...  ...  "712 
Gum  acid  trace  of  fatty  matter  -305 
Sugar  ...  ...  ...  ...  4-150 
Mineral  matter  ...  ...  ...  "261 
Water 94-572 
100-000 
The  following  is  a pai-tial  analysis  of  the 
liquid  from  a Ceylon  drinking  coconut,  made 
by  the  author  : — 
Analysis  of  liquid  from  a Ceylon  drinking  Coconut , 
Specific  gravity  ...  ...  1*0188 
Fat 
per  cent. 
...  -230 
Salts  ... 
...  -610 
Sugar  and  other  constituents 
...  3-560 
Water  ... 
...  95-600 
100-000 
The  following  is  a table  of  more  elaborate 
analyses  of  the  liquid  from  unripe  and  ripe 
coconuts,  the  most  striking  feature  of  which  is 
the  change  of  the  glucose  of  the  unripe  nut  into 
sucrose  or  cane  sugar  in  the  ripe  nut ; — 
