Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/42

24&#93; ^ 4 j c o c COCK'S -FOOT, or Cock's-foot Grass, or DaSiylis, L. a genus of plants comprising seven species ; of which two are indigenous : — 1 . The Stri&a, or Smooth Cock's- foot Grass, which grows in marshes, and on the sea-coast. It is prin- cipally found in the eastern and southern parts of England, is pe- rennial, and flowers in the month of August. 2. The Glomerata, or Rough Cock's-foot Grass, which thrives in pastures and in shady places, under the drippings of trees. This plant is also perennial, is in flower from June to August, and grows to the height of four or rive feet, when seeding. It is some- what coarse, but very luxuriant, especially in the leaves, which are often two feet long : they are eaten by horses, sheep, and goats, but particularly by cows, which are ex- tremely fond of them, when grow- ing on a rich soil. Dogs and cats instinctively search for and swallow this herb, when they incline to vo- mit, or to envelope the splinters of bones collected in their stomach. Cocks-Head. See Common Saintfoin. COCOA, or Cocoa, L. a native tree of the East and West Indies, where it is of the greatest use to the inhabitants. It frequently grows to the height of 60 or 76 fed in the trunk, and delights in a moist sandy soil, especially near banks of rivers and the sea-coast, where it is propagated by planting" Its ripe and fresh nuts, that generally come up in the course of six weeks or two months. From these delicious nuts is prepared the well-known beve- rage called Chocolate, to which we refer. — Each branch produces from ten to twenty nuts, which, v.Ik : half ripe, contain a sweet milky liquor, well calculated to COD quench thirst, and of great sen'ice in many diseases of a putrid and inflammatory tendency. If the nuts are allowed to become ripe on the tree, this liquor hardens into a kernel, which is pardy eaten raw, and partly expressed and converted into an oil, that forms an import- ant branch of trade in the Ind:es. Of the sap, obtained by incision from the spatha, or flower-sheath, the natives prepare wine, vinegar, arrack, and sugar. The leaves of the cocoa-tree are upwards of ten feet long, and thirty inches broad. It presents a constant succession of blossoms and frpit, nearly throughout the year : its trunk serves for timber and ca- binet-ware ; from the leaves are manufactured, baskets, hats, sail- cloth, mats, parasols, shingles for covering houses, paper, &c. COD, the Common, or Gadus Morhua, L. an inhabitant of the ocean, which is from two to four feet long, and weighs from 12 to 20lbs. : it is found only in the nor- thern parts of the world, between the latitudes of 66 and 50 degrees. The principal fishery for cod, is on the banks of Newfoundlard, where they are caught in numbers suffi- cient to furnish employ for nearly 1. 5 ,000 British seamen, and to at- ford subsistence to a still more nu- merous body of people at home, who are engaged in the various manufactures, which so extensive a fishery demands. The food of the cod consists of small fish, worms, crabs, &c. : their digestion is so vigorous, as to dis- solve the greatest part of the shells they swallow. Hence they are ex- tremely voracious, and catch at any small object they perceive agitated by the water, even stones and peb- bles, which are frequently found in their