A lecture on the geography of plants / By John Barton.

  • John Barton
Date:
1827
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A lecture on the geography of plants / By John Barton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    water’s edge, which abound in those seas. It has been suggested that many shipwrecks might be prevented at a small expense, by carrying out a few cocoa-nuts, and throwing them on these sunken reefs. The cocoa-nut is, as you know, employed for food; and the liquid which it contains in its interior, when recently gather- ed from the tree, furnishes a refreshing drink to the inhabitants of those hot countries. From the sap of the tree they also prepare an intoxi- cating liquor called arrack. It is not from the Cocoa-nut-tree that cocoa is prepared, but from a tree called the Cacao, which is not of the Palm tribe. The Cacao is cultivated in many parts of South America. It succeeds best in a moist atmosphere and cloudy sky, under a mean temperature not below 73° Its fruit forms an important article of commerce; cocoa and chocolate (which last is a preparation of cocoa) being in general use among the South Americans and Spaniards. The Plantains are another family of plants peculiar to the torrid zone, where they form a principal article of cultivation in both hemi- spheres. As in our fruit-trees, the number of varieties is very great; and so much is their appearance changed by artificial management * Humboldt, Prolegomena, p. 156.