M^mlaSS}  Notes  on  the  Areca  Palm.  147 
or  honey  have  been  recommended,  but  are  never  reliable. —  Canadian 
Pharm.  Journ.,  1874,  p.  305. 
NOTES  ON  THE  ARECA  PALM. 
Areca  Catechu,  L. 
By  John  R.  Jackson,  A.  L.  S.,  Curator  of  the  Museums,  Kew. 
Some  interest  having  lately  arisen  amongst  pharmacists  with  re- 
gard to  the  Areca  palm  (Areca  Catechu,  L.)  owing  to  its  proposed 
introduction  into  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  as  an  officinal  plant,  a 
few  notes  on  the  tree  itself  and  its  uses  may  not  be  out  of  place. 
The  Areca  palm  is  a  handsome  tree  growing  to  a  height  of  from 
forty  to  sixty  feet,  with  a  slender,  erect  trunk,  averaging  from  one 
to  two  feet  in  circumference.  It  has  regular,  pinnate  leaves,  and 
long,  linear  leaflets,  of  a  rich,  dark-green  color.  The  circumference 
of  the  trunk  is  annulated  or  distinctly  marked  with  the  scars  of  the 
clasping  petioles  of  former  leaves.  The  fruits  are  each  about  the 
size  of  a  hen's  egg,  consisting  of  a  fleshy-looking  drupe,  which,  how- 
ever, on  cutting  is  found  to  be  very  fibrous,  containing  a  seed  about 
the  size  of  a  nutmeg,  and,  like  that  well-known  spice,  ruminated  or 
marked  with  thick,  reddish-brown  irregular  lines  throughout  its  entire 
substance.  These  fruits  are  borne  in  large  bunches,  springing  from 
the  crown  of  leaves.  The  spathe  itself  is  used  in  some  parts  for 
making  drinking  vessels,  for  nailing  over  the  bottoms  of  boats,  and 
for  various  other  purposes. 
The  tree  is  known  best  as  the  betel-nut  palm,  and  is  cultivated  in 
nearly  all  the  warmer  parts  of  Asia  for  the  sake  of  the  seeds,  which 
are  not  only  chewed  in  large  quantities  by  the  natives  in  countries 
where  they  grow,  but  are  shipped  to  countries  where  the  palm  is  not 
cultivated.  The  annual  average  produce  of  one  tree  is  said  to  be 
about  three  hundred  nuts.  The  tree  is  largely  cultivated  all  over 
India,  as  well  as  in  China,  but  is  more  abundant,  perhaps,  in  Mala- 
bar, North  Bengal,  the  lower  slopes  of  the  mountains  of  Nepaul,  and 
the  south-west  coast  of  Ceylon.  In  Travancore  alone  there  are  nearly 
ten  millions  of  these  trees,  the  annual  value  of  the  produce  of  which 
is  estimated  at  £50,000  sterling.  It  is  said  that  about  80,000  piculs 
of  the  nuts  are  annually  produced  on  the  coast  of  Sumatra.  Many 
varieties  of  the  betel-nut  palm  are  known  to  the  natives  under  differ- 
ent local  names  ;  the  nuts  also  vary  much  in  size,  but  their  quality 
