Note 121 — THE COCOA-NUT TREE.
Reading edition
The midribs of the leaves, tied together, form good brooms for the decks of ships.
Formerly it was not unusual for the Tahitan females to produce abortion, by using a midrib of the cocoa-nut leaflets as an instrument for the purpose; but this crime is now, I am happy to say, very rare indeed, if practised at all, in the present state of that splendid island.