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BETEL TREE. 
This mastication of betel is in general use in In- 
dia, where it is introduced both morning and even- 
ing. They carry it with them when they visit, and 
offer it to those they meet. It serves to occupy the 
time, by filling up an idle hour, in the same man- 
ner as we use tobacco in Europe. Like the rest of 
the world, who can readily find an excuse for a fa- 
vourite indulgence, they pretend that the stomach 
is strengthened, and the constitution improved, by 
the chewing of betel. 
The inhabitants of the coast of Coromandel pre- 
pare their betel without lime ; and indeed each 
district has its manner of seasoning their favourite 
relish, some mixing it with cardamoms and different 
aromatic drugs, while others make it still hotter by 
the addition of the most pungent spices. 
The constant use of this luxury is so pernicious 
to the teeth, that the Indians frequently lose them 
before they are thirty years old. It is likewise 
highly injurious to asthmatic and phthisical persons. 
They use the timber of this tree for rafters to their 
houses, and for pales to fence in their grounds. 
There is another species of this genus, the Areca 
loeracea Linn., inhabiting the Antilles, which is of 
considerable service to the natives on account of its 
durable wood. This, for about two inches from the 
exterior bark, is as hard as ebony ; but towards the 
centre the wood is soft and spongy. There is a 
terminal bud growing from the centre of this tree, 
which is composed of the young leaves, and con- 
sidered as a great delicacy by the natives, who tell 
