Cocoanut
a woody fruit of an oval shape, from 3 or 4 to 6 or 8 inches in length, covered with a fibrous husk, and lined internally with a white, firm, and a white ite , firm, and fleshy kernel. The tree (Cocos nucifěra) kernel. The tree (Cocos nucifera) which produces the cocoanut is a palm , from 40 to 60 feet high. The nuts hang from the summit of the tree in clusters of a dozen or more together. The external rind of the nuts has a smooth surface. This incloses an extremely fibrous substance, which immediately surrounds the nut. The latter has a thick and hard shell, with three black scars at one end, through one of which the embryo of the future tree pushes its way. The kernel incloses a considerable quantity of sweet and watery liquid.
This palm is a native of Africa, the East and West Indies, and South Amer- CODDINGTON ica, and is now grown almost everywhere in tropical countries. The kernels are used as food and yield a valuable oil.
When dried before the oil is expressed they are known as copra. The fibrous coat of the nut is made into the wellknown cocoanut matting; the coarse yarn obtained from it is called coir, which is also used for cordage. The hard shell of the nut furnishes cups and utensils. The fronds are wrought into baskets, mats, sacks; the trunks are made into boats or furnish timber for houses. By boring the tree a white sweetish liquor called toddy exudes from distillation one the wound, and yields by distillation one yields by dis of the varieties of the spirit called arack.
A kind of sugar called jaggery is also obtained from the juice by inspissation. (Batocera COCOANUT BEETLE rubus), a large longicorn beetle, the larvæ of which are very destructive in cocoanut plantations. They are destitute of feet, large and pulpy, and of repulsive aspect; but are esteemed a luxury by the coolies of the COCO DE MER (also called Sea or Maldive Double Cocoanut), the fruit of the Lodoïcea Seychellarum palm. Its double kernel has long had an extraordinary value in the East as a poison antidote. The tree on which it grows is peculiar to some of the Seychelles Islands, reaches a height of 100 feet, and has very large fern-like leaves .