Malayan name, the Indian one is Sura. ) is 
procured by boring the twigs or by incising 
the peduncles of the flowers or the unripe 
Cocoa-fruits. But Toddy can also be made 
from the sap of other palms, especially the 
Palmyra palm, (see below). When ferment- 
ed this palm sap is intoxicating and the best 
Arrack is distilled from it. By boiling and 
evaporating it “Jaggery” or sugar is ob- 
tained. Some of the Chinese authors seem 
to confound the Cocoa-nut milk with the 
palm-wine. As far as I know the milk, an 
agreeable cooling drink, is not used in the 
preparation of spirituous beverages. 
It is known, that the Cocoa-nut palm ^ is 
extensively cultivated throughout the tropics 
of both the old and the new world. Its 
native country seems to be India and especi- 
ally Southern India. The Northern limit 
of its geographical distribution reaches in 
British India as far as the tropic, but here 
it grows only on the Western shore, the 
Eastern shore of British India, and the 
interior being almost destitute of Cocoa-nut 
palms. The damp and warm Delta of the 
Ganges again produces forests of Cocos 
nucifera, but the tree also does not exceed 
the tropical limit. In India beyond the 
Ganges the Northern limit of it extends as 
far as the 25° of latitude (Of. Hamilton ac- 
count of Assam (1798) I p. 243.) As regards 
China it is known from European sources, 
that the Cocoa-nut grows abundantly in the 
island Hai-nan , namely on the Eastern coast 
(Cf. Taintor’s Geographical Sketch of Hai- 
nan 1868) and forms an article of export 
trade. On the opposite coast of the main- 
land, in the Department of Lui-cJiou-fu , the 
tree also is found. Mr. Sampson states: 
(1. c. p. 148) : “the most northerly spot in 
which I have seen it flourishing in this part 
of the world is on the island of Now-chow 
latitude 20°50. — The Pcn-ts'ao asserts, that 
it grows also in the province of Y un-nan, 
and in all the departments of Kuang-si and 
Kuang-tung. But this seems to be an er- 
roneous statement. T1 e great Geography 
Yi-tung-chi quotes only the following places . 
as producing Cocoa-nuts: Kiung-chou-fu 
(Hai-nan) — Yu-lin-chou (Kuang-si) — T'ui- 
wan ( Formosa.) — The Kuang-si-tung-chi 
mentions the Cocoa-nut as a product of Chen- 
an-fu (Kuang-si). 
The Cocoa-nut is rich in names. Its 
Sanscrit name is “narikela ” (meaning juicy. 
Cf. Amarakocha, Vocabulary Sanscrit, trail 
difctuu per Deslongeliamps I. p. 115) and has 
spread to the Persians, Arabians and Greeks, 
the Persian and Arabian name being u ?iar- 
gil .” Kosmas Indicopleustes (6th century) 
calls it ’A^-yellion (Cf. Thevenot, Relat. d. 
voyages curicux 1666 Volume I.) The nam« 
nyor used in the Archipelago (Crawfurd, 
Indian Archipelago I p. 379,) seems to be 
also of Sanscrit origin. But the Chinese 
name “l r e” has nothing in common with 
Sanscrit, and we must be contented with the 
etymology given in the Pcn-ts'ao. — Marco 
Polo describes the Cocoa-nut, with which 
he was acquainted in Sumatra (close of the 
13th century) under the name of “noci 
d’lndia.” Cf. Pauthier’s Marco Polo p. 573: 
“llz ont moult grant quantite de noix d’lnde 
moult grosses qni sont bonnes a mangier 
freshes.” The name “Cocos” now the com- 
mon one among Europeans seems to date 
from the time Magelhan circumnavigated 
the globe 1519-22. Pigafetto, the companion 
of Magelhan, found these fruits first on the 
Ladrone islands, where they were called 
“Cocos.” (Cf. Sprengel, Pigafetta's Welt- 
reise 1784.) Bontius (Ilistoria natural Indiae 
oriental 1631, p. 45) calls the Cocoa-nut 
“nux indica, a Lusitanis Coquo dicta.” 
At the end of the description of the Cocoa- 
nut in the Pen-ts‘ao mention is made of three 
other trees, Which the author ranges under 
the same head. 
The ■p|' Tt\sing-t l ien-ho (green 
field nut) is said by Tsui-pao (an author of 
the fourth century) to grow in a country 
called Wu-sun* The tree has a 
great nut, which, if cut down and filled with 
water, changes the water into wine of a 
pleasant taste. This beverage however spoils 
quickly. Some of this wine was obtained 
by a ruler of 'gfj Shu (an ancient name for 
Ssu-chuan) towards the close of the Han 
dynasty (first half of the third century.) "It 
is difficult to say what tree here is meant, 
but it seems to have nothing in common with 
palms. 
The two other trees mentioned, the Shu- 
ou-tsiu and the Yen-shu relate to other 
palms, and particulnry the Palmyra palm, 
i and will be treated under this head. 
I have given in the preceding remarks ai 
literal translation from the Pen-ts‘ao, as re- 
gards the Chinese accounts of the Cocoa-nut, 
in order to show the Chinese method of edit- 
ing and compiling scientific works. But, as 
the numerous repetitions as well as the un- 
systematic putting together of the statements 
would be very tedious for the reader, I will 
* The Wu-sun were a nomadic, nation, who lived 
first on the Western frontier of China ('modern Kan- 
su. ) But about 170 B. C. they emigrated together with 
the A ft R Ta-Yue-clii (TiJ Massagetae, to> 
Western Asia. Cf. IVicn-han-slm Hist, of the Ant- 
Ilan. ) Chap. Otf. 
