2. Raphia seeds.—

The seeds of a palm which agree closely with those of Raphia Hookeri have been imported into Liverpool to be crushed as an oil-stuff. The quantity obtainable was, however, too small for this purpose, and the importer proposed to use the nuts for carving, for which they probably proved too soft, besides wanting uniformity of texture. They were stated to come from page 50 Liberia under the name of Taqua nuts. This is a name belonging to the true Ivory-nuts of S. America (Phytelephas macrocarpa), which is now likely to be applied indiscriminately to any palm seed hard enough to be carved.