OR 
SPECIMEN NUTS OF THE IVORY PLANT. 
This substance is the albumen (perisperm) of the seed of a small species of 
palm growing in the valleys of the Andes, whence it is now imported in very 
considerable quantities into this country. Humboldt first drew attention to its 
hardness and whiteness, and the uses to which it is employed by the natives of 
the districts in which it grows. It is called the “niggers'-head tree,” on account 
of the form and size of the large black drupaceous fruit in which the seeds are 
contained. The fruit consists of several cells, in each of which is contained four 
seeds. The seeds are covered by a tough fibrous testa, which, on being removed, 
exposes the albumen, which represents the soft meat of the cocoa-nut and the 
seeds of other palms. At one end of the seed is a little cell, in which is enclosed 
the embryo, which seems to germinate without effecting any change in the con¬ 
dition of the hard mass by which it is surrounded. This is not the only palm 
whose seeds are hard enough for the uses of the turner, although the only one 
which is employed extensively for this purpose. The botanical name of the plant 
yielding these seeds is Phytelephas Macrocar pa, and the order to which it belongs 
is that of PalmecE. It is a good substitute for ivory, and far supersedes it in 
colour, being of a delicate transparent white. The Indians cover their cottages 
with the largest leaves, and the English manufacture all kinds of fancy articles of 
the nut. The ornaments made from this substance exhibited in the Exhibition, 
1851, Class XXVII f, which consisted of a variety of objects turned with great 
skill, obtained for the Manufacturer a Prize Medal, and also a copy of the Reports 
by the Juries on the subjects of all the different Classes into which the Exhibition 
was divided. 
13 
13 
13 
13 
13 
i 
i? 
& 
13 
r3 
13 
t* 
13 
i 
13 
