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only from 3 to 4 Palms ; in Guinea we know merely of the same number ; 
and of the other African Palms, 6 belong to the Isles of Bourbon and 
France ; New Holland has, in the torrid zone, three species, while Forster’s 
Prodromus of the Flora of the South Sea Islands contains four.” The most 
northern limit of Palms is that of Chamserops palmetto in N. America, in 
lat. 34‘^-36°, and of Chamserops humilis in Europe, near Nice, in 43^-44° 
N. lat. They are found in the southern hemisphere as low as 38® in New 
Zealand. “It is remarkable that no species of Palm has been found in 
South Africa, nor was any observed by M. Leschenault on the west coast 
of New Holland, even within the tropic.” Brown in Flinders, 577. If 
Palms were not, as some say, among the earliest plants that clothed the 
face of the globe, none of their remains existing, mixed with the Ferns and 
Calamites of the old coal formations, it is at least certain that their creation 
dates long before that of the present Flora of the globe. But it is probable 
that they actually did exist at the most remote periods ; for the Noggerathia 
foliosa of Sternberg from the coal-fields of Bohemia seems really to have been 
a Palm ; Adolphe Brongniart refers two other fossils of the same epoch to this 
family, and I have produced in the Fossil Flora proofs of their fruits being 
traceable in the shale of the old coal formations. No one doubts that they ap- 
peared immediately after the developement of Cycadaceae ceased in European 
latitudes, and that of Coniferae took a more decided form ; as we find un- 
questionable traces of them in those deposits above the plastic clay which 
Brongniart calls Marno-charbonneux. 
Properties. Wine, oil, wax, flour, sugar, salt, says Humboldt, are 
the produce of this tribe ; to which Von Martins adds, thread, utensils, 
weapons, food, and habitations. The most remarkable is the Cocoa Nut, 
of which an excellent account will be found in the Trans, of the Wernerian 
Society, vol. 5. The root is sometimes masticated instead of the Areca 
Nut ; of the small fibres baskets are made in Brazil. The hard case of the 
stem is converted into drums, and used in the construction of huts; the 
lower part is so hard as to take a beautiful polish, when it resembles agate ; 
the reticulated substance at the base of the leaf is formed into cradles, and, 
as some say, into a coarse kind of cloth. The unexpanded terminal bud is a 
delicate article of food ; the leaves furnish thatch for dwellings, and materials 
for fences, buckets, and baskets ; they are used for writing on, and make 
excellent torches ; potash in abundance is yielded by their ashes ; the midrib 
of the leaf serves for oars ; the juice of the flower and stems is replete with 
sugar, and is fermented into excellent wine, or distilled into a sort of spirit, 
called Arrack ; or the sugar itself is separated under the name of Jagery. 
The value of the fimit for food, and the delicious beverage which it contains, 
are well known to all Europeans. The fibrous and uneatable rind is not less 
useful ; it is not only used to polish furniture and to scour the floors of rooms, 
but is manufactured into a kind of cordage, called Coir rope, which is nearly 
equal in strength to hemp, and which Roxburgh designates as the very best 
of all materials for cables, on account of its great elasticity and strength. 
Finally, an excellent oil is obtained from the kernel by expression. The juice 
which flows from the wounded spathes of Palms, especially of Cocos nucrfera, 
is known in India by the name of Toddy. Independently of the grateful 
qualities of this fluid as a beverage, it is found to be the simplest and easiest 
remedy that can be employed for removing constipation in persons of delicate 
habit, especially European females. Ainslie, 1. 451. Palm oil is chiefly 
obtained from Elais guineensis, and this tree is also said to yield the best kind 
of Palm- wine. The succulent rind of the Date is one of the most agreeable 
of fruits. Sago is yielded by the trunk of nearly all, except Areca Catechu, 
but especially of Sagus farinifera and Phoenix farinifera. The well known 
Betel Nut is the fruit of Areca Catechu, and remarkable for its narcotic or 
