COCOANUT.
Hu. . . . ACIIINESE. Noce de Cacao, . . . Tr.
Narikal, . . . Kalapas, . . . MALAY.
Cocos, . . . . FR., Sr. Ten*, . TAIL, Kotaos-baum, . . GEL Tcnkaia, . . . . TEL.
Nare1, . . . . Hugo. I Narekadara, . . „ Cocoanut, the fruit of the Cocos nueifera, is a word supposed to come from the Portuguese term Macaco or Macoco. Its fruit-bearing power may be considerably improved by extracting toddy from the blossom shoots for the manufacture of jagari during the first two years of its productive ' ness, after which it may be discontinued. The ' subsequent annual produce may be safely reckoned at fifty nuts per annum. From ten to twelvo large nuts may be seen on each bunch. In good situations, the fruit is gathered four or five times in the course of the year. The albuminous sub stance within the copra ' or kernel is used as an article of food, and when dried is kargely exported to other places; and the clear, sweet liquid which the nut encloses when young, is a very agreeable drink ; it is the albumen in a liquid state. House plasterers attribute an adhesive quality to this, and mix it with their white and other washes, in which hate forms a chief ingredient. The full ripe nut contains a small quantity of oily rnilk, and is then used for making oil. Cocoanut milk is extracted by pressure, and is used in making currit, etc. It is from the husk of the cocoanut that the well-known coir,' khoir, or roya fibre of commerce is prepared, and used for the manu facture of coir rope, matting, brushes, etc. Cocoa nut husk, from which the fibres have not been separated, is used in lieu of a scrubbing-brush for the floor, and for polishing wood ; brootns, mats, and bags are likewise manufactured from it.
Cocoanuts, both in the raw and dried state, form prontinent feature iunongst the exports at Galle and Colombo, in value to about 114,000 yearly. Cocoanuts valued at .£50 a ton are imported into Great Britain. The shell is vely brittle, and its structure is somewhat fibrous; but it admits of being turned for the bodies of cups and TIISCS, the feet and coveni being made of wood or ivory. Common buttons are also made of the cocoanut shell, and are considered better than those of horn, as they do not, like that material, absorb moisture which causes them to swell and twist. The hollow shells, called gari ' or naryel,' are used for the water-holder of a particular kind of hookah. The nuts are made into Lookals, goblets, and cups, and when mounted with silver, polished and carved, are very handsome ; but for everyday household use they are made into lamps, ladles, skimmers, and spoons. The shells make good lamp-black, and when reduced to charcoal and pulverized, an excellent dentifrice. The cocoanuts are hourly used as offerings for Hindu idols. The cocoanut, when fully ripe, can be hollowed and cleaned, by being filled with salt water and buried for some time in the sand, when the albu men decays, and is washed out. In the Travan core and Cochin kingdoms, the kernel is variously cut for making garlands for state occasions. The uppermost and tender shoots of the cocoanut tree, vvhen boiled, eat like cabbage, and are mu cla prized both by Europeans and natives.—Ainslie, p. 245 ; Seeman ; E. J. R. ; Royle; Tredgold.