Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 2.djvu/227

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There are many varieties of the palm. Among them the Caryota urens is the most ornamental, with its long, pendulous clusters of dark-red, succulent, acrid berries. The pith of this tree yields a species of sago, and the sap is commonly employed in the Deccan as yeast for raising or fomenting bread. There is also the travellers' palm, or crab-tree, from which a watery juice is extracted, and which, crowning the summits of hills, forms a picturesque object on the landscape, with its broad, fan-shaped leaves. The date-trees of India and Ceylon neither possess the loftiness nor the beauty of foliage of those growing in such luxuriance on the banks of the Shatt-al-Arab, in Mesopotamia, and indeed seldom bear fruit. The areca-palm, which is cultivated in most parts of India, and is indigenous on the Malabar coast, furnishes the "betel-nut," which, mixed with "paun," forms a composition which the Hindoos are in the constant habit of chewing.

There are five well-marked varieties of the cocoa-nut. The Tembili, of which there are different descriptions, is a very well-formed, handsome nut, of oval form and bright-orange tint. The Buddhist priests of Southern India and Ceylon generally contrive to keep a store of the choicest kinds of the Tembili in their temples as offerings to the passer-by, who is expected to make a return. The Nawasi is slightly heart-shaped, of lighter color than the preceding, and bears an edible husk. On stripping off the outer rind, the inner skin turns to a pale-red color, and is fit for use. There is a third variety of nut, somewhat small and round, and in color much resembling the Tembili. Then there is the common cocoa-nut, so well known to every urchin; and, lastly, we have the double (Ladoicea Seychellorum), which, as its name implies, is a product of the Seychelles, a group of islands in the Indian Ocean.

In old times the most marvellous medicinal virtues were attributed to nuts of this description, and they were considered unfailing antidotes to all kinds of poison. As their origin was veiled in obscurity—those obtained being either caught-up floatings at sea or on the coasts of the Maldive Islands, where they were thrown up by the tides and currents—the most extravagant sums were asked and obtained for them. Thus it is recorded that the Emperor Rudolph II. offered 4,000 florins for one which chanced to be for sale, but, the bidding being considered insufficient, the precious nut passed into other hands. It is even said that a merchant-ship, with her freight and stores complete, has been bartered in exchange for one.

The natives believed that the trees producing these nuts grew at the bottom of the sea, and were enchanted palms, which vanished the instant the adventurous diver attempted to reach them. Death was