The Kola Nut.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 6258, 3 July 1890, Page 3

The Kola Nut.

Tho Pall Mall Oaselte publishes an interview with a largo London importer of drugs and herbs on tho subject of the kola nut, which is spoken of as only recently brought before the public notice, although Mr Pottage, Princes street, Edinburgh, has for a long time been selling special preparations of the

nut Some of the facts elicited, however, are worth notice. Good nuts a r e worth from i lOd to Is per lb; but the qualities vary , considerably. Among the many valuable properties possessed by iho kola is that of clarifying beer and spirit. 'lho seeds (or nuts) are futher said to make foul water healthy, and to render tainted moat fit for food. This action is probably clue _to the mucilage which the nuts contain, which aots mechanically in the same manner as the white of egg, so often used for clarifying purposes. Kola, moreover, is said to be of great use in cases of dipsomania. On the west coast of Africa, Mohammedans and Arabs beat the natives at drinking by _ chewing at the same lime a kola nut, which prevents the bad effects of the liquor. But the most remarkable property of kola is that of enabling persons who use it to undergo prolonged exertion without This is probably duo to the caffeine which the nuts contain. The kola nut is obtained from a tree from 30 to 60 feet high, which in general aspect resembles the chestnut. This trees grows wild along the western coast of Africa from Pierra Leone to Lower Guinea. It will practically grow anywhere, provided the soil be sufficiently low-lying and damp. Tbo seeds, or nuts, grow in pods, which open of their own account when the fruit is ripe. Two gatherings are made in the course of the year, the nuts being carefully removed from the husk, and dried in the shade. They are then packed in baskets or barrels lined with the leaves of the 1 bal ’ tree, brought to the coast, and exported.