596 
The  Kola  Nut  of  Africa. 
f Am.. Jour.  Pharrn. 
I        Dec,  1890. 
from  time  immemorial  among  the  various  tribes  of  Equatorial  Africa, 
the  product  was  little  known  in  Europe. 
The  opening  up  of  Central  Africa  and  the  increase  of  trade  on 
the  West  Coast  has  demonstrated  its  importance  as  a  local  article 
of  commerce,  and  its  chemical  advantages  have  become  duly  appre- 
ciated. There  are,  however,  two  distinct  products ;  one,  the  true  kola 
nut,  the  product  of  Stercalia  acuminata,  popularly  known  as  the 
female  kola,  and  the  false,  or  bitter  kola,  designated  as  the  male 
kola.  The  true  kola  tree  grows  spontaneously  over  the  range  of 
Western  Africa  comprised  between  the  io°  of  N.  latitude  to  the  50 
S.  latitude.  This  tree,  to  which  attention  has  of  late  years  been 
prominently  directed  by  the  authorities  of  Kew,  has  been  introduced 
from  time  to  time  into  India,  Ceylon,  Seychelles,  Mauritius  and 
Cochin  China  in  the  East ;  Zanzibar  and  Sidney,  and  in  French 
Guiana,  British  Guiana,  Guadaloupe,  Dominica  and  Jamaica  in  the 
Western  Hemisphere. 
Incidental  mention  of  this  nut  has  been  *  already  made  in  this 
Journal — 1880,  pp.  6  and  7;  1883,  p.  27;  1884,  p.  166,  and  1886, 
p.  391.  The  tree  commences  to  bear  at  4  or  5  years,  but  it  is  not 
until  10  years  that  it  is  in  full  fruit,  when  it  will  produce  on  the 
average  120  pounds  of  seed  twice  yearly.  Flowering  in  June,  the 
pods  will  ripen  in  October  and  November,  and  a  second  crop  will 
be  yielded  in  May  and  June  following.  The  fruits  as  they  ripen 
have  a  yellowish -brown  color,  and,  as  the  central  suture  opens, 
exposes  both  red  and  white  seeds.  The  women  remove  the  seeds, 
which  are  most  appreciated  and  valued  when  they  are  fresh  and 
moist.  To  preserve  them,  they  are  placed  in  baskets,  in  layers, 
with  the  leaves  of  Stercidia  cordifolia,  which  are  kept  damp.  If  they 
are  kept,  or  to  be  transported  any  distance,  the  nuts  are  washed 
and  fresh  moistened  leaves  added  every  month.  The  packages, 
weighing  about  1  cwt.,  are  sent  to  the  Gambia,  Gone  and  other  dis- 
tricts. When  the  nuts  become  dry,  they  are  reduced  to  powder, 
and  taken  in  this  state  by  the  caravans  to  the  interior.  They  fre- 
quently arrive,  however,  in  a  fresh  state  at  Sokoto  and  Kouka,  in 
the  Soudan,  and  at  Timbuctoo. 
Not  only  are  the  kola  nuts  consumed  in  Africa,  but  they  are  also 
exported  to  Brazil  for  the  use  of  the  negroes  there.  The  seeds  of 
Sterculia  Chica  and  5.  lasiantha  are  also  eaten  in  Brazil. 
Sierra  Leone  is  the  principal  market  for  these  nuts.    Ten  years 
