CORYPHA, MOUNTAIN-PALM, or CABBAGE-TREE, in botany; a genus of the order of palms, belonging to the monocot class of plants. There is only one species, the umbracula, a native of the West Indies, where it is said to rise to the height of 150 and 200 feet. It is by some authors called the palmetto royal; and well, says Hughes in his Natural History of Barbadoes, may it be called royal, since neither the tall cedars of Lebanon, nor any of the trees of the forest, are equal to it in height, beauty, or proportion. It is generally as straight as an arrow: near the earth it is about seven feet in circumference, but tapers as it ascends. The bark is of an ash-colour, till within 25 or 30 feet of the extremity of the tree; when it alters at once to a deep sea-green, which continues to the top. Upon removing the large leaves, or branches, which surround the top of the trunk a little way above the beginning of the green bark just mentioned, what is called the cabbage is discovered lying in many thin, snow-white, brittle flakes, in taste resembling an almond, but sweeter. This substance, which cannot be procured without destroying the tree, is boiled, and eaten with mutton by the inhabitants of the West Indies, in the same manner as turnips and cabbage are with us; it is likewise pickled, and sent to Europe, where it is esteemed an exquisite delicacy.
In the pith of the trunk of the cabbage-palms, when felled, there breeds a kind of worms, or grubs, which are eaten and esteemed a great delicacy by the French of Martinico, St Domingo, and the adjoining islands. These worms, says father Labat, are about two inches long, and of the thickness of one's finger; the head is black, and attached to the body without any distinction of neck. Their preparation for the table is as follows: They are strung on wooden skewers before a fire, and as soon as heated, are rubbed over with rasings of crust, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; this powder absorbs all the fat, which during the cookery would otherwise escape; when properly roasted they are served up with orange or citron sauce. These worms being exposed for some time to the sun, are said to yield an oil which is of great efficacy in the piles. The oil in question, says Labat, is never to be heated before its application to the part affected; as repeated experiments have evinced that its spirit is totally dissipated by the fire.
COURTS of CONSCIENCE. See COURTS of REQUESTS, (Encycl.)