Betel leaf cannot be preserved in a sound state beyond eight days without preparation, but by being prepared over a fire, and rolled into balls, in which state it is called _chenai_, it will keep a year, only the quality is much deteriorated. In Penang the old men carry about with them a sort of metal tube, having a ramrod-looking pestle, with which they busy themselves in pounding the mixture for chewing. The young daily make nut-crackers of their jaws, and although the mixture, perhaps, rather tends to preserve the teeth, still the exercise on the nut must be a little too violent for them, and the Malays say it injures the sight. The Chinese are not much addicted to the use of the betel. The consumption of betel by the inhabitants of Penang and Province Wellesley may be stated at 6,211,440 bundles of 100 leaves each, equal in value to 31,057 Spanish dollars, which would be the produce of 98 orlongs of land, or about 130 acres, planted regularly. But allowing for the various distances given by different cultivators between the plants 110 orlongs may be assumed, or about 147 acres. The Chinese colonists of Singapore used the leaves of the common pepper, instead of those of the betel pepper in compounding this masticatory. The Ava pepper, or _Macropiper methysticum_, is even more celebrated for its narcotic properties than the two just referred to. This plant has a thick aromatic wood stalk, and a large root, and cordate or heart-shaped leaves. It is a native of the Society, Friendly, and Sandwich Islands, where it is largely consumed. Macerated in water, the stems and root form an intoxicating beverage, and the leaves are used with the areca nut and lime, in the same manner as the leaves of the other peppers.[28]