useful knowledge for every-day life.

Before proceeding to a closer acquaintance with the origin of cocoa,
it may be well to clear the ground of possible misconceptions which
occasionally cause confusion.

[Illustration--Drawing: THE COCO-NUT PALM.]

First, there is the word "cocoa" itself, an unfortunate inversion of
the name of the tree from which it is derived, the cacao.[4] A still
more unfortunate corruption is that of "coco-nut" to "cocoa-nut,"
which is altogether inexcusable. In this case it is therefore quite
correct to drop the concluding "a," as the coco-nut has nothing
whatever to do with cocoa or the cacao, being the fruit of a palm[5]
in every way distinct from it, as will be seen from the accompanying
illustration.

[Illustration--Drawing: COCO-DE-MER.]

The name "coco" is also applied to another quite distinct fruit, the
_coco-de-mer_, or "sea-coco," somewhat resembling a coco-nut in its
pod, but weighing about 28 lbs., and likewise growing on a lofty tree;
its habitat is the Seychelles Islands. Sometimes also, confusion
arises between the cacao and the coca or cuca,[6] a small shrub like
a blackthorn, also widely cultivated in Central America, from the
leaves of which the powerful narcotic cocaine is extracted.

[Illustration--Drawing: LEAVES AND FLOWER OF THE CUCA SHRUB.]

In the second place, the name "cocoa," which is strictly applicable