At Colombo (island of Ceylon) there is a government steam-engine, which was erected in 1815, for the purpose of extracting the oil from the nut in much larger quantities, and with greater facility than before. Ceylon furnishes an abundance of cocoa-nut oil, much is used in the colony, and a large quantity is also exported to Europe. In Ceylon the average price is from thirteen to fifteen pence per gallon. There are medicinal properties attributed to different parts of the cocoa-nut tree in Ceylon; the root (the Tumu Haari of the natives of Tahiti) is used by the native doctors, small pieces of it being boiled with dried ginger and jaggery, and the decoction given at stated regular periods, and is considered highly efficacious in remittent and intermittent fevers. When this decoction is used as a gargle, it is mixed with the fresh oil of the nut, and generally affords considerable relief to the patient; and has good effect, it is said, in cases where pustules have formed in the mouth or tonsils. The expressed juice of the leaves, mixed with the fresh oil of the nut, is considered a sovereign remedy in hemorrhoids. The expressed juice of the nut, used as an external application, mixed with new milk, is regarded by the Singalese as a good remedy for ophthalmic complaints. It has been asserted, I believe by Lord Valentia, that cocoa-nut trees were injurious to the air in the places where they grew. Dr. Davy notices this in his excellent work on Ceylon, and says, “Respecting the good effect of the wind from the sea, there can be no doubt; and almost as little can be entertained respecting the ameliorating effect of cultivation, and the benefit derived from the shade of cultivated trees. Unfortunate would it be for the island, were the notions of a noble traveller on this subject correct, or were his suggestions, founded on these notions, carried into execution; who, supposing cocoa-nut trees to be injurious to the air, has recommended the destruction of those fine groves in the neighbourhood of Galle, with the idea of improving the wholesomeness of a place already remarkably wholesome. It was from notions similar to this, not long after we had possession of Trincomalie, that the majority of the cocoa-nut trees at that place were cut down, to the great detriment of the inhabitants, and to the deterioration rather than the improvement of the air. It is well established, and ought never to be forgotten, that it is not shade that is prejudicial in a hot climate; that it is not vigorous healthy vegetation that is noxious; but the accumulation of dead vegetable matter and its putrefaction; and that whilst every means are taken to prevent the latter, too much encouragement cannot be given to promote the former.”