COCOS NUCIFERA.. Cocoanut tree.
_ _ The cocoanut palm does uot seem to have been known to the ancients, though it is said to be indigenous in the East, from which they received ambassadors ; and is said by the Hindus to have been brought by Viswamitra from Ceylon to India. The first allusion to it in Ceylon is of A.D.. 1153, in the time of king Prakrama r. It now grows in great abundance in the Maldive and Lacca,dive islands, on the Malabar. coast, in Ceylon, on the eastern side of the Bay of Bengal, though scarce in Arakan, whence it ascends both the Brahma putra and Ganges rivers to a considerable dis tance. It grows in the Nicobars, in China to lat. 20° N., in most parts of the Eastern Archi pelago, from the Sunda to the Molucca Islands, and in those of the Pacific Ocean, and is now cultivated in various tropical parts of the New World. It grows to a height of 1000 feet above the sea, though flourishing in greatest luxuriance in the vicinity of the ocean. It rises sixty to a hundred feet high ; its cylindrical trunk, three feet in diameter, is crowned with numerous waving, feathery leaves, forming an elegant object of intertropical scenery. It is self-propagating. Its keel-shaped nut, protected from the salt water by its tough and thick though light covering, sails on the ocean to barren spots, where it germinates, a,nd causes even the smallest islets t,o become covered with clumps of the cocoanut palm. They are surmounted by numerous wavy leaves, called fronds by botanists, and their footstalks are often called branches by travellers. The leaves are gigantic in size, being about 20 feet-in length, with a strong tough stalk, which forms the midrib, and has a number of narrow and long leaflets ranged along the two sides.
It is a tree of great value to the people, who utilize it in upwards of a hundred ways. The wood is applied to various purposes, such as rafters, fences, shears, laths, shingles, chairs, and ladies' work-boxes, etc. ; but during tho period of its most abundant bearing (considered to be between ten and thirty-five years' growth), the heart-wood is of so soft and spongy a nature, that it is then merely used for fences, water-pipes, etc.
Its wood is also used for reepers, for which purpose it is, however, inferior to the palinyra, though, in Ceylon and on the western coast, hard and durable rafters are procurable. The Cochin planks are prettily striped, and of remarkable size. The wood is strong and durable ; a cubic foot weighs 70 lbs., and it is esteemed to last for 20 to 50 years. It is used for ridge-poles, for temporary loafs, aqueducts, etc. ; for small boats ; for the beams, posts, and rafters of houses ; for spear handles, paling, and walking-sticks ; for fancy boxes and furniture ; for boats' frames, bridges, raniptuts, water butts, conduits, glitters, and drums. It forms one of the porcupine woods of commerce, and is used for fancy articles. A farinaceous substance is contained in the stem, which forms a good substitute for sago. Each , tree produces annually from 50 to 60 cocoanuts, but up to 300 nuts have been obtained from a single tree, but some trees never fruit at all. From the appearance of the flower until the fruit drop, a period of fourteen months elapses. These are enclosed in a thick fibrous husk, from which the coir of commerce is obtained by macera tion and beating. The husk is employed as a scrubbing brush and polishing brush ; it is con verted into cordage of various kinds, employed for the rigging of ships, fishing - nets, matting, and brushes ; and in India, in its loose state, it is the usual material with which mattresses, pillows, and sofas are stuffed. Within the fibrous husk is the shell, which is very brittle, though its structure is somewhat fibrou.s. Cut in various ways, it is formed into cups and drinking vessels, into pitchers, funnels, and lamps. It is susceptible of a high polish, and admits of being turned in an agreeable manner. Those shells which are tolerably circular are used for the bodies of eups and vases, the feet and covers being made of wood and ivory. Common buttons are also made of the cocoanut shell, and aro considered better than those of horn, as they do not, like that material, absorb the moisture, which causes horn buttons to swell and burst. The shell forms a valuable charcoal.