Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/807

 COCOANUT TREE COCO-MARICOPAS 791 cing the base or extremity. The quantity col- lected in this way varies, and always dimin- ishes the yield of fruit. When fresh the toddy is delicious, and acts as a gentle aperient. Fermentation takes place in a few hours, and the liquor is then known as palm wine, which is a pleasant drink, and is much used by bakers for yeast. By distillation toddy yields 25 per cent, of arrack. By allowing the fer- mentation to proceed, a good vinegar is ob- tained ; and by boiling the fresh toddy a toler- able sugar, or jaggery, can be made. Eight gallons of sweet toddy yield two gallons of a luscious liquid called pervin by the Cingalese ; and the brown sugar obtained from this by further boiling is formed into round cakes, and eaten or exported. The husk of the cocoanut is very fibrous, and contains considerable sili- ca. Out transversely, the halves of the nut make excellent scrubbing brushes for the decks of ships. The husk when dry is stripped off by means of a small stake fixed in the ground, and a man can strip 1,000 nuts a day; the husks are then soaked for several months in water to separate the fibres, and finally twisted into rope, or woven into mats, under the name of coir. The rope is very strong and light, does not rot when wet, and floats on the water. It is stronger and more elastic than hemp, and is preferred to hemp or chain for cables, as en- abling a ship to ride easily at anchor in rough weather. Forty nuts usually yield six pounds of coir. The Polynesians twist and braid small cords of this fibre, which, as " sinnet," serves in the construction of houses and ca- noes, where Europeans would use nails. The shell of the nut within this husk is very hard when fully ripe, and takes a fine polish ; burnt, it forms good lampblack, and as charcoal is in demand as a dentifrice. When the nut is still green it contains from one to two pints of a rich clear liquid, always cool when first gath- ered from the tree, and the shell is lined with a gelatinous soft mass, which is eaten either alone or flavored with various juices. An anal- ysis of this liquid shows in 1,000 parts: Water 900-88 Sugar 4-48 Gum 1T-6T Extractive matters (oil) 28-29 Salts soluble in alcohol 5 - 44 Salts insoluble in alcohol 6-29 When taken to excess, it produces strangury, but people often drink nothing else for weeks with- out bad effects. When the nut is gathered with the stem attached, it may be kept fresh at sea for several weeks, and the water is considered a good remedy for seasickness. It is also used with lime in making chunam, a hard plaster, and in various processes of cooking. As the nut ripens, the albumen is deposited in a thick lining in the shell, and the liquid becomes insipid. The al- bumen in this form may be eaten, and is cooked in various ways, always forming an important ingredient of genuine curries and mulligataw- nies. It contains much oil, and the Polynesi- ans chew it up and rub it into their hair as a pomatum. The oil is perhaps one of the most valuable products. The Micronesians break up the ripe nuts and expose the meat to the heat of the sun in covered troughs, keeping the mass constantly wet. Fermentation takes place, and the oil drops out into receivers. The East Indian process is almost as rude, the broken nuts being ground in a wooden or stone mill of primitive construction. The product varies in quantity as well as in quality; 10 nuts sometimes produce a quart of oil, and at other times 30 yield only three pints. In some places the ground nuts are pressed or even boiled, but the oil thus obtained is infe- rior. The best oil is used for cooking pur- poses, or to anoint the body; a most grateful process in a hot climate, and the inferior sorts for illumination. Large quantities are imported into the United States and England for the manufacture of candles and soap. The cocoa- nut is an example of the palms that have two of the three ovules regularly abortive, the third occupying the whole inner surface of the nut, and in germination sending the radicle through the only one of the three apertures in the shell which remains soft. COCO-MARICOPAS, or Maricopas, a tribe of semi-civilized American Indians, living upon the river Gila, Arizona, about 150 m. above its mouth. They occupy a portion of the rich alluvial valley found there, in common with another tribe known as the Pimas, which holds the same rank in civilization. The val- ley is there about 15 m. in length, and from 2 to 4 m. in width, nearly the whole of which is occupied by the villages and cultivated fields of these two tribes. The Pimas oc- cupy the eastern portion. There is no divi- ding line between them, nor anything to dis- tinguish the villages of one from those of the other. Their joint reservation, as established by congress, on both sides of the Gila, is about 25 m. long and 4 m. wide, extending from Maricopa Wells to below Sacaton. The whole of this plain is intersected by irriga- ting canals from the Gila, by which they are enabled to control the water, and there- by raise luxuriant crops. The villages con- sist of groups of from 20 to 50 habitations, surrounded by gardens and cultivated fields, the latter fenced with crooked stakes wattled with brush. Their houses are built with stakes, poles, corn husks, and straw. These habitations are from 5 to 7 ft. in height, and in diameter from 15 to 25 ft. There is usually a bower or shed attached to each wigwam, open on all sides, beneath which the occupants are generally seen engaged in their household du- ties, only resorting to their better protected abodes in cool or rainy weather. Besides the dwelling places, each family is provided with a storehouse or granary, better built than the former. These Indians possess horses, mules, and horned cattle. When ploughing is resorted to, oxen only are used ; but they prefer to use the hoe for turning up the light soil. With this