NUTS. 
1. The English walnut (Inglan- 
acece) has a thin shell. This nut is 
much esteemed and is an important 
article of commerce. It yields by ex- 
pression a bland fixed oil, which, under 
the names of "walnut oil" and "nut 
oil," is much used by painters and is a 
common article of food. 
2. The peanut (Arachis) is also called 
ground nut and earth nut. It is cul- 
tivated in all warm regions of the 
globe, and its usefulness is such that 
it is likely to extend. It was intro- 
duced from Peru into Spain, and 
thence into France. It succeeds in 
favorable situations and yields from 
eighty to one hundred fold. Its culti- 
vation is so general in the eastern parts 
of Africa, and even in the interior, that 
doubts have been therefore enter- 
tained of its American origin, of which, 
the most eminent botanists seem to be 
quite satisfied. The fruit is sometimes 
eaten raw, but generally boiled or 
roasted. The importance of the plant 
is chiefly owing to the fixed oil con- 
tained in it, which is used for the same 
purposes as olive or almond oil. 
3. The Brazil nut is the fruit of the 
Bertholletia excelsa, a large tree of the 
order Lecythidacece, found chiefly on 
the Orinoco. The shell is very hard, 
and contains a rich, oily meat in one 
piece like an almond. The Portu- 
guese early carried on an extensive 
trade in these nuts. They are now 
chiefly imported from Para, and con- 
tinue to form an article of great com- 
mercial importance. When fresh, they 
are highly esteemed for their rich 
flavor; but they become rancid in a 
short time from the great quantity of 
oil they contain. This has been largely 
extracted for use in lamps. 
4. The hickory nut ( Carya alba) 
abounds near the great lakes and in 
some parts of New Jersey and Pennsyl- 
vania. The nuts are inconsiderable de- 
mand and are sometimes exported. 
The shell is thin, but hard, and the 
kernel sweet. The oil, which was used 
by the Indians as an article of food, 
was obtained from it by pounding and 
boiling. 
5. The filbert is the fruit of the Corylus 
avellana or hazel. The kernel has a 
mild, farinaceous, oily taste, agreeable 
to the palate. In England filberts 
are usually large hazel nuts. The 
American hazel nuts are of two other 
species. 
6. The chestnut (Castanea vesca) 
is eaten raw, boiled, or roasted, or 
is ground into meal and puddings, 
cakes, and bread are made from it. The 
tree is common to Europe and Amer- 
ica. 
7. The pecan {Carya olivalformis), 
sometimes called the Illinois nut, a 
species of hickory nut. The shell is 
thin and the meat well flavored. The 
tree grows in North America, chiefly in 
the Mississippi valley, and in Texas, 
where it is one of the largest of forest 
trees. 
8. The almond (Amygdalus) grows 
on a tree about twenty or thirty feet 
high, a native of the East and of 
Africa, but has now become completely 
wild in the whole south of Europe. It 
is planted for the sake of its beautiful 
flowers, which resemble those of the 
peach in form and color. The wood 
of the tree is hard and of a reddish 
color, and is used by cabinet-makers. 
But it is chiefly valued on account of 
the kernel of its fruit, well known by 
the name of almonds, an important 
article of commerce. It is mentioned 
in the Old Testament, and appears to 
have been cultivated from a very early 
period. It was introduced into Britain 
as a fruit-tree before the middle of the 
sixteenth century, but it is only in the 
most favored situations in the south of 
England that it ever produces good 
fruit. It is successfully cultivated in 
southern California. Almonds are 
either sweet or bitter. The bitter ap- 
pear to be the original kind, and the 
sweet to be an accidental variety, per- 
petuated and improved by cultivation. 
