Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/806

 790 COCOANUT OIL COCOANTTT TREE other substances, which properly come tinder the designation of chocolate. The oil of the cocoa is extracted for certain cosmetic un- guents and applications for the hair; after which the remainder of the flour is made into an inferior article called broma, which how- ever is much liked by many persons who object to the richness of chocolate or cocoa. The imports of cocoa, not including chocolate, into the United States in the year ending June 80, 1872, were 4,917,809 Ibs., valued at $600,640. COCOANUT OIL, or Coeoannt Butter, the fixed oil of the fruit of cocos nuctfera, obtained either by expression or decoction. It is of a fine white color, of the consistence of lard at ordinary temperatures, becoming solid between 40 and 50 F., and liquid at 80 ; of a bland taste and a peculiar and not disagreeable odor. It contains various solid and volatile acids. This oil, or fat, should not be confounded with cocoa or cacao butter (oleum theobroma), which is obtained from the cacao nut. It is some- what used in pharmacy as a substitute for lard, over which it has some advantages, and in medicine as a substitute for cod liver oil. The liquid part of the fat, or coco-oleine, has also been used for the same purposes. COCOAOTT TREE (cocos nucifera, Linn.), one of the best known of the great family of palms, and perhaps also the most useful. There is a saying among eastern nations that its attributes would fill a book. Although a native of the tropics, and flourishing only on the seashore, it will grow as far north as Lucknow in India (lat. 26 60' N.), and is planted far in the in- terior of that peninsula ; but in the one case it does not bear fruit, in the other it is dwarfed and languishes. In conservatories the cocoa- nut seldom lives more than 10 or 12 years. The centres of the geographical range of this palm are the islands bordering on the Indian and central Pacific oceans. It is also found in the tropics of America, but is there considered rather an article of luxury than of necessity. The tree attains a height of from 60 to 100 ft., and a diameter of one or two feet. Its cylin- drical, gently tapering trunk, usually somewhat inclined, from the constant winds of the trop- ics, is crowned by numerous feather-like leaves from 18 to 20 ft. long. The flowers appear on the axils of the leaves, and are enclosed in a thick tough spathe ; when this first opens, the clusters of small, three-parted flowers have a beautiful milk-white appearance, although they soon become yellowish. The spathe opens always on the under side, and soon falls off, leaving a spicate spadix bearing the female flowers near the base. As in most palms, the blossom is beautiful from the great number of the florets rather than from any individual grace. In favorable places these clusters are produced every six weeks during the rainy season, and each one ripens from 5 to 15 nuts. Each tree thus has a succession of fruit, and may produce from 80 to 100 nuts a year. In planting the nut the three black spots on one end are left uppermost. From one of these the stem rises, and the shell is soon split. Often the nut does not begin to germinate for six months, or even a year, after planting, while it is sometimes seen sprouting when ly- ing on the ground, with its husk still green. Its growth is very slow for the first two years, and not until six or seven years old does it be- gin to bear, continuing until 70 years, or even longer. After the tree ceases to bear, the wood becomes very hard, and from its peculiar fibre is known as porcupine wood. Where it grows it is used for posts and rafters to houses, and the immature wood, which has a soft cen- tre easily removed, is used for water pipes. The rootlets are astringent and are used for chewing. The leaves are usually 12 or 15 in number, and 5 or 6 are formed every year, the old ones dropping off, and leaving the horizon- tal scars that ornament the trunk. The new leaf is enclosed in a tough fibrous sheath, which is used as a strainer, or even for clothing ; the Cocoanut Palm. pointed, solid leaf soon bursting through it, and by the elongation of its midrib becoming a pin- nate leaf. When fresh the leaves are cooked and eaten as cabbage. The dry leaves are plait- ed together, and form the covering for the roofs and sides of bungalows. The base, with the midrib, serves as a paddle ; the midrib as an arrow or spear; the lateral ribs, when stripped, make good brooms. The leaflets serve for paper, the writing being made with a sharp point, and cow dung is usually rubbed in to make the characters more distinct. The leaves are also used for fans, fences, thatch, bedding, fish nets, sieves, and hats. The smaller ribs are made into neat combs. The whole makes a good torch, and is also burned by the washerwomen for its potash. The flowers con- tain a most powerful astringent, and in Ceylon are used medicinally in various debilitating dis- eases. Before they burst from the spathe, the sap, or toddy, is obtained by bruising and sli-