CATECHU. 231 
obtuse kind of berry, of bluish purple colour, and 
about the size of an olive. The sheaths of the flowers, 
and the floral leaves, when first developed, are folded 
round each other, enclosed in a thin, green, and spongy 
bark, eight or nine inches in circumference, and con- 
stitute the part which is denominated the cabbage. 
This is white, and, when boiled, is esteemed a great 
luxury. It is also eaten raw as a salad, and fried with 
butter ; and its taste is said to resemble that of an 
artichoke. This part is likewise frequently made into 
a pickle with vinegar and spices. 
We are informed that the cabbage-tree was first in- 
troduced into Jamaica by Admiral Knowles, when 
governor of that island ; and that it has since been 
cultivated there with great attention. But it is chiefly 
planted for its beauty, being considered too valuable to 
be often cut down for the small portion of food which 
it thus affords, however delicious that may be. 
In the leaves of this tree there is a thread-like sub- 
stance, which is sometimes spun, like hemp, and made 
into different kinds of cordage. The sockets or grooves 
formed by the broad part of the footstalks of the leaves 
are used by the negroes as cradles for their children ; 
and on the inner sides of the very young footstalks 
there are tender pellicles, which, when dried, may be 
converted into paper. The trunks, when cleared of the 
pith, serve as water pipes and gutters. Of the pith a 
kind of sago is made; and in this pith, after the trees 
are felled, there is bred a large species of caterpillar 
which the inhabitants of some of the West Indian 
islands eat as a great delicacy. 
245. The CATECHU,ARECA, or BETEL-NUT-TREE 
(Areca catechu), is a species of' palm which grows in the East 
Indies. 
It is generally from thirty to forty feet high, and its trunk is 
six or eight inches in diameter. The leaves, which grow on the 
sumautf are winged, having the leaflets folded back; and the 
fruit is a pulpy berry with thin skin t containing a nut about 
an inch in lengthy and of a rounded conical form. 
