BETEL See also:

• NUT
• NUT (0. Eng. knutu, cf. Dutch noot, Ger. Nuss; allied with Gael. cno; it is not of the same form as Lat. nux)

NUT  . The name betel is applied to two different See also:

• PLANTS

plants, which in the See also:

• EAST
• EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

East are very closely associated in the purposes to which they are applied . The betel See also:

• NUT
• NUT (0. Eng. knutu, cf. Dutch noot, Ger. Nuss; allied with Gael. cno; it is not of the same form as Lat. nux)

nut is the See also:

• FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit of the Areca or betel See also:

• PALM (Lat. palma, Gr. iraX6.jn )
• PALM, JOHANN PHILIPP (1768-1806)

palm, Areca See also:

• CATECHU

Catechu, and the betel See also:

• LEAF (O. Eng. leaf, cf. Dutch loof, Ger. Laub, Swed. lof, &c.; possibly to be referred to the root seen in Gr. Ma-eta, to peel, strip)

leaf is the produce of the betel See also:

• VINE

vine or See also:

• PAN (" pasturer ")
• PAN (common in various forms to many Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Pfanne; it is generally taken to be an early adaptation in a shortened form of Lat. patina, shallow bowl or dish, from patere, to lie open)

pan, Chavica Betel, a plant allied to that which yields See also:

• BLACK
• BLACK, ADAM (1784-1874)
• BLACK, JEREMIAH SULLIVAN (1810–1883)
• BLACK, WILLIAM (1841-1898)

black See also:

• PEPPER
• PEPPER, WILLIAM (1843–1898)

pepper . The Areca palm is a native of the See also:

• MALAY

Malay See also:

• PENINSULA
• PENINSULA (Lat. paeninsula, from paene, almost, and insula, an island)

Peninsula and Islands and is extensively cultivated over a wide See also:

• AREA

area in the East, including See also:

• SOUTHERN

southern See also:

• INDIA
• INDIA, FRENCH

India, See also:

• CEYLON

Ceylon, See also:

• SIAM (known to its inhabitants as Muang Thai)

Siam, the Malay See also:

• ARCHIPELAGO

Archipelago and the Philippine Islands . It is a graceful See also:

• TREE (0. Eng. treo, treow, cf. Dan. tree, Swed. Odd, tree, trd, timber; allied forms are found in Russ. drevo, Gr. opus, oak, and 36pv, spear, Welsh derw, Irish darog, oak, and Skr. dare, wood)
• TREE, SIR HERBERT BEERBOHM (1853- )

tree with a straight, slender, unbranched See also:

• STEM (O. Eng. staefn, stemn, cf. Du. stain, Ger. Stamm, &c., probably related to " staff ")

stem reaching 40 or 50 ft. in height and about 12 ft. in circumference, and bearing a See also:

• CROWN

crown of 6–9 very large spreading pinnate fronds . The fruit is about the See also:

• SIZE

size of a small See also:

• HEN

hen's See also:

• EGG (O.E. aeg, cf. Ger. Ei, Swed. aegg, and prob. Gr. u,ov, Lat. ovum)
• EGG, AUGUSTUS LEOPOLD (1816-1863)

egg, and within its fibrous rind is the See also:

• SEED (from the root seen in Lat. serere, to sow)

seed or so-called nut, the albumen of which is very hard and has a prettily mcttled See also:

• GREY, CHARLES GREY, 2ND EARL (1764-1845)
• GREY, HENRY GREY, 3RD EARL (1802-1894)
• GREY, LADY JANE (1537-1554)
• GREY, SIR EDWARD
• GREY, SIR GEORGE (1812–1898)

grey and See also:

• BROWN
• BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN (1771-181o)
• BROWN, FORD MADOX (1821-1893)
• BROWN, FRANCIS (1849- )
• BROWN, GEORGE (1818-188o)
• BROWN, HENRY KIRKE (1814-1886)
• BROWN, JACOB (1775–1828)
• BROWN, JOHN (1715–1766)
• BROWN, JOHN (1722-1787)
• BROWN, JOHN (1735–1788)
• BROWN, JOHN (1784–1858)
• BROWN, JOHN (1800-1859)
• BROWN, JOHN (1810—1882)
• BROWN, JOHN GEORGE (1831— )
• BROWN, ROBERT (1773-1858)
• BROWN, SAMUEL MORISON (1817—1856)
• BROWN, SIR GEORGE (1790-1865)
• BROWN, SIR JOHN (1816-1896)
• BROWN, SIR WILLIAM, BART
• BROWN, THOMAS (1663-1704)
• BROWN, THOMAS (1778-1820)
• BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD (1830-1897)
• BROWN, WILLIAM LAURENCE (1755–1830)

brown See also:

• APPEARANCE (from Lat. apparere, to appear)

appearance . The See also:

• CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief purpose for which betel nuts are cultivated and collected is for use as a masticatory their use in this See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form being so widespread among See also:

• ORIENTAL

Oriental nations that it is estimated that one-tenth of the whole human See also:

• FAMILY

family indulge in betel chewing . For this use the fruits are annually gathered between the months of See also:

• AUGUST (originally Sextilis)

August and See also:

• NOVEMBER (Lat. novem, nine)

November, before they are quite ripe, and deprived of their husks . They are prepared by boiling in See also:

• WATER

water, cutting up into slices, and drying in the See also:

• SUN
• SUN (0. Eng. sonne, Ger. sonne. Fr. soleil, Lat. sol, Gr. ijXior, from which comes helio- in various English compounds)

sun, by which treatment the slices assume a dark brown or black See also:

• COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour . When chewed a small piece is wrapped up in alleaf of the betel vine or pan, with a pellet of See also:

• SHELL
• SHELL (O. Eng. scell, scyll, cf. Du. sceel, shell, Goth. skalja, tile; the word means originally a thin flake,. cf. Swed. skalja, to peel off; it is allied to " scale " and " skill," from a root meaning to cleave, divide, separate)

shell See also:

• LIME
• LIME (O. Eng. lim, Lat. limes, mud, from linere, to smear)

lime or chunam; and in some cases a little See also:

• CARDAMOM

cardamom, See also:

• TURMERIC (from Fr. terre Write, turmeric, Lat. terra merita, deserved, i.e. excellent earth; Skeat suggests that it is a barbarous corruption, perhaps of Arabic karkam, kurkum, saffron or curcuma)

turmeric or other aromatic is added . The mastication causes a copious flow of saliva of a See also:

• BRICK (derived according to some etymologists from the Teutonic bricke, a disk or plate; but more authoritatively, through the French brique, originally a " broken piece," applied especially to bread, and so to clay, from the Teutonic brikan, to break)

brick-red colour, which dyes the mouth, lips and gums . The See also:

• HABIT (through the French from Lat. habitus, from habere, to have, hold, or, in a reflective sense, to be in a certain condition; in many of the English senses the French use habitude, not habit)

habit blackens the See also:

• TEETH (O.E. Eel); plural of tooth, O.E. top)

teeth, but it is asserted by those addicted to it that it strengthens the gums, sweetens the breath and stimulates the See also:

• DIGESTIVE

digestive See also:

• ORGANS

organs .

Among the Orientals betel is offered on ceremonial visits in the same manner as See also:

• WINE (Lat. vinum, Gr. oivos)

wine is produced on similar occasions by Europeans . Betel nuts are further used as a source of catechu, which is procured by boiling the nuts in water . The water of the first boiling becomes red and thick, and when this is inspissated after the removal of the nuts it forms a catechu of high astringency and dark colour called in Bombay ." Kossa." The nuts are again boiled, and the inspissated juice of the second decoction yields a weaker catechu of a brown or reddish colour . Betel nuts have been used by turners for ornamental purposes, and for coat buttons on See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account of the beauty of their structure . At one See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time they were supposed to be useful as a vermifuge . The nuts of other See also:

• SPECIES

species of Areca are used by the poorer classes in the East as substitutes for the genuine betel nut . The See also:

• ALKALOID

alkaloid arecaidine, C7H11NO2, occurs in areca or betel nuts, together with three other alkaloids: arecoline, C8H12NO2, guvacine, CBH9NO2, and arecaine, C7HnNO2 . Arecaidine forms See also:

• WHITE
• WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
• WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
• WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
• WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
• WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
• WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
• WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
• WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
• WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
• WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
• WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)

white crystals easily soluble in water, and difficultly soluble in See also:

• ALCOHOL

alcohol . Chemically it is methyl-tetrahydro-nicotinic See also:

• ACID (from the Lat. root ac-, sharp; acere, to be sour)

acid . Dehydration results in the formation of a " betaine," which is a tetrahydro-trigonelline (see BETAINE) . Arecoline is an oil, and the physiological See also:

• ACTION

action of the betel nut is alone due to this substance . Chemically it is the methyl ester of arecaidine .

Guvacine, named from " guvaca," an See also:

• INDIAN

Indian designation of the betel palm, forms white crystals . It is a secondary See also:

• BASE

base, but its constitution is uncertain . Arecaine is n-methylguvacine .