Scientific American, Volume XXXVI., No. 8, February 24, 1877 | Page 3

food reacts upon the mental powers of man,
the temperament evoked by different sorts is different;" yet "we are still
far from having ascertained anything in regard to the permanent effects
of daily food, especially as the human stomach has, to a great degree,
the power of accommodating itself to various food substances, so that
with use even narcotics lose much of their effect." The same author
also adds that the date "trains up independent and warlike desert tribes,
which have not the most remote mental relationship to the rice-eating
Hindoos."
It remains for the reader to reconcile this disagreement of learned
doctors according to his own judgment. The evidence of those who
subsist on the date is certainly overwhelming in its favor. The
Assyrians, tradition says, asserted that it was such a great gift to them
that its worth could not be too extravagantly told; for they had found,
for the leaves, the fruit, the juices, and the wood of the tree, three
hundred and sixty different uses. The Mohammedans adopt the date
palm into their religion as an emblem of uprightness, and say that it
miraculously sprang into existence, fully grown, at the command of the
Prophet. Palm branches still enter as symbols of rejoicing into Christian
religious ceremonies; and throughout Palestine constant reference is
found to the date and the palm in the naming of towns. Bethany means
"a house of dates." Ancient Palmyra was a "city of palms," and the
Hebrew female name Tamar is derived from the word in that language
signifying palm. In Africa there is an immense tract of land between
Barbary and the great desert named Bilidulgerid, "the land of dates,"
from the profusion of the trees there growing.
[Illustration: GATHERING DATES IN CEYLON.]
In this country, the date as an article of food is classed with the prune,
the fig, and the tamarind, to be used merely as a luxury. We find it
coming to the markets at just about this time of year in the greatest
quantities, packed in baskets roughly made from dried palm leaves. The
dates, gathered while ripe and soft, are forced into these receptacles
until almost a pasty mass, often not over clean, is formed. Their natural
sugar tends to preserve them; but after long keeping they become dry

and hard. This renders them unfit for use; but they still find a sale to the
itinerant vendors who, after steaming them to render them soft (of
course at the expense of the flavor), hawk them about the streets. Dates
in the pasty condition are not relished by those who live on them; nor,
on the other hand, would we probably fancy the dried, almost tasteless
fruit which, strung on long straws, is carried in bunches by the Arabs in
their pouches.
The date palm (phoenix dactylifera) is the most important species of
the dozen which make up its genus. Though slow in growth, it shoots
up a magnificent stem, to the height sometimes of eighty feet, the
summit of which is covered with a graceful crown of pinnated leaves.
The trunk is exceedingly rough and spiny; the flower spathes, which
appear in the axils of the leaves, are woody, and contain branched
spadices with many flowers; more than 11,000 have been counted on a
single male spadix. As the flowers are dioecious, it is necessary to
impregnate the female blossoms artificially in order to insure a good
crop; and to this end the male spadices are cut off when the pollen is
ripe and carefully shaken over the female ones. At from six to ten years
of age, the tree bears, and then remains fruitful for upward of 200 years.
An excellent idea of the palm in full bearing may be obtained from our
illustration, which represents the mode of gathering the dates, of which
a single tree will often yield from one to four hundredweight in a
season. The fruit varies much in size and quality; and in the oases of
the Sahara forty-six varieties have been named.
The utilizations of the date palm and its products are very numerous.
The stem yields starch, and timber for houses, boats, fences, fuel, etc.,
as well as an inferior kind of sago. The leaves serve as parasols and
umbrellas, and for material for roof covering, baskets, brushes, mats,
and innumerable utensils. At their base is a fiber, which is spun into
excellent rope. When the heart of the leaf is cut, a thick honey-like
juice exudes, which, by fermentation, becomes wine (the "toddy" of
India), or vinegar, and is also boiled down into sugar. The young shoots,
when cooked, resemble asparagus; and the dates themselves are dried
and ground into meal, from which bread is prepared.

* * * * *
PANTHERS AS SEED DISTRIBUTORS.
It is well known